Looking… Looking…

We all begin our photography in much the same way: by walking around with camera in hand, looking for nothing in particular and finding patches of light, anomalies, things that are nice, things that are strange.

Things that, above all, surprise us.

We make some pictures. One of them opens a way for us. So we start looking for more such pictures. Suddenly we are… photographers.

This online workshop with Sean Kernan is about going back to our beginnings. We set aside the photographers we have become, while still drawing on the skills we’ve acquired over the years. Assignments reawaken awareness of the childlike mind that is the heart of creativity. We listen to a few lectures and presentations, and we engage in a series of exercises that loosen us up and carry us forward in our work.

We use photography not to picture what we know, but to find reflections of what we don’t. The more we let go of ingrained habits of seeing and thinking, the more we can make work that doesn’t strive to capture images of something external.

Ultimately, we are not after photos that affirm what we already know. Instead, we seek ways to make our experience of things clear and real, first for ourselves and then for others. We are rewarded with fresh and compelling images that surprise, delight, and maybe even amaze us.