“Anyone can print black – just put a piece of photo paper under the enlarger, turn the enlarger light on and leave it on. But light values… ahhh… light values… they are the soul of the black and white photograph. Not everyone can print white and have it sing.”   So said one of my great photo teachers, Neil Rappaport. I took that advice to heart, but it was a visit to the Photography Study Room at the Art Institute of Chicago where I really learned the truth behind those words as I viewed Paul Strand’s photograph Mr. Bennett, Vermont, 1944.
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Links for this Episode:

* The History of Photography Class in the Photo Study Room at the Art Institute of Chicago
* Camera Position on Facebook – Share your images
* Camera Position on Flickr – Share your images
* Jeff’s Photograph Italy Workshops – A few spots remain for Puglia and Rome


Camera Position 171 : Tone, Value and Mr. Bennett’s Button

A Podcast About the Creative Side of Photography

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How do you consider yourself as a photographer in terms of the work you do? Is it important to tell your viewers how you define your work as being a particular kind or made with a particular camera, or does the work you make define you instead? 



If I make more images, like the one in this post, am I a #lunarphotographer or a #GreatLakesPhotographer? If I shoot it with #film or with #digital, how does that change what the image says? I think my intent as a photographer matters more than the label or the gear and if you make photographs that are genuinely yours, your own personal hashtag will write itself.



Rather than think of myself as this kind of photographer or that kind of photographer, I prefer to think of myself as photographer – I’m interested in subject matter as it presents itself to me, or as I think of it relative to things I’ve read, music I’ve listened to, places I’ve gone…



Rather than pigeonholing yourself into a particular genre of image-making, or that you use a particular kind of camera, think rather of how the work you make defines who you are and let that be your “hashtag.”



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Links for this Episode:



* PhotoPlace Gallery in Vermont* Composed Exhibition* Jeff’s essay about the work* My Instagram Feed – Follow me and I’ll follow back* Podcast Facebook Page



Blue Hour Moonset – Lake Superior  – photograph by Jeff Curto





Camera Position 213 : What’s your hashtag?


This episode covers some practical details. I go over the places where you can listen to Camera Position and list a number of online resources for you to explore photography that go beyond the “usual suspects” of Instagram – Flickr – Facebook.



– Sources –



Where to Listen to Camera Position



Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsiHeartRadioSpotifyStitcherAmazon MusiciOS App (free!)YouTubeAndroid App



Play Podcast:











– Resources –



Where to Find Quality Photography & Photography Inspiration Online



LENSCRATCH – “an online platform dedicated to supporting and celebrating the photographic arts and photographic artists through exposure, discussion, community collaboration, and education.”



LensCulture – “LensCulture is one of the most comprehensive and far-reaching resources for discovering contemporary photography talent around the world.”



Artsy – “Artsy features the world’s leading galleries, museum collections, foundations, artist estates, art fairs, and benefit auctions, all in one place.” – Over 1,000,000 artworks online



Museum of Contemporary Photography – “The MoCP is the world’s premier college art museum dedicated to photography.

Camera Position 212 : Sources & Resources


“Whatever you do with your photography – don’t ever do… that.” 



Our desire to learn quickly, be noticed in social media and not make any mistakes has led to some photography pundits saying things like the above with increasing frequency.



The whole idea that there are pictures that you should never  make or techniques or ideas you should never try is confusing to me. What happened to the notion of experimenting with photography and exploring the world and the medium as you work out the best way to create images that mean something to you?



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Links for this Episode:



* My Instagram Feed – Follow me and I’ll follow back* Podcast Facebook Page



Birches – from the project “The Whisper of the Pale Trees” – 2020/2021 – photograph by Jeff Curto





Camera Position 211 : What not to do


I can’t think of a time in my life that has been more disconcerting than this last year. The pandemic and the disruption to our daily routine. We don’t work the same, we don’t socialize in the same way, we don’t go out or see friends or family. We are certainly in strange and uncertain times, a situation that brings anxiety to many.



I’ve discovered that for me the disquiet of our time is calmed by the camera. I’ve learned that spending some time exploring some part of the world through the lens takes me away from the chaos and uncertainty and brings me back to center. It doesn’t matter if I just take a walk around the kitchen in the warm morning light or grab the camera and spend a few minutes just outside the front door seeing what the siding looks like in the rain, if I take some photographs, it helps push disquiet away.



Moving my cognition over to the right side of my brain – the creative side – lifts the weight of the world from me. How about you? Do you find that raising the camera to your eye is a component of helping you create balance in your life? Let me know what your routine is below or on the podcast Facebook page.



Play Podcast:











Links for this Episode:



* My Instagram Feed – Follow me and I’ll follow back* Podcast Facebook Page



Late Autumn Forest, Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan – Photograph by Jeff Curto





Camera Postion 210 : The Calming Camera

During this pandemic time, we have been forced to trade in the allure of travel for the allure of the backyard. As I return to the podcast after a long absence, I explore the idea that you don’t need to go somewhere special to make special photographs. Instead, you need to go deeper wherever you are.
Play Podcast:
 

Links for this Episode:

* My Instagram Feed – Follow me and I’ll follow back



Still Life, Cortona, Tuscany – Photograph by Jeff Curto





Camera Position 171 : Tone, Value and Mr. Bennett’s Button

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