Back to School, Pumpkin latte’s, Halloween candy, And Orange is all over the place!
For me, the fall only means that one of the best photo gear expos is coming soon to NYC.

All of us gear monkeys will be seeing, feeling, touching, buying, new kit that will make what we love even better.

Sure,the tools are important, and we all love them. It’s what you do with them that is the key, as you know.
One thing you should not overlook at PhotoPlus Expo is the incredible amount of learning that is available.
Yes, on the floor there are experts teaching while using a manufacturers product ( It ain’t gonna be done for free!). HOnestly you will learn some very cool stuff that you will use. And probably buy the product they are touting.
BUT… and this is a BIG but.. Do NOt Miss The Seminars!!!
Here is a list of what’s in store to help whet your whistle:
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One of our favorite people, Katy Winn, who is back in NY this week for fashion week, and we’d like to share again a video we made with her.
Watch, listen, and learn.

And some insight from that same meeting:

It’s always a good lesson to see what a working photographer uses to get the job done. Not about endorsements, freebies, or the latest gear that gets written up.
It’s about what works. And works. and works.
It’s about dependable equipment that the assignment photographer can use to make a living. It may get beat up, pushed around, and scarred, but if it works, it’s in the bag.

The sturm and drang of young brooding photographer can cause one to go dark.
Not the dark of violence, but exploring the inner reaches of the psyche. The deep reaches.
Or so I thought.
When I was looking at universities to study film photography and fine art, I knew it was all about the instructors, and not the facilities.
I happened to go to a lecture by one Dave Heath.

©Dave Heath from the book A Dialogue With Solitude

This photographer was a contemporary of Robert Frank, Gary Winogrand, and the whole new movement of street photographers of the 50’s and 60’s.
The intensity with which he spoke, and the emotional impact of the images he shared told me that the place this man taught was the right place for me. The Photo-Arts dept. of Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto.
Yep, Toronto.
With a yearly tuition of $424 a year, labs and equipment that was more than I ever dreamed of, and the staff of instructors that touched all of the points I was looking for.
Dave Heath was an especially intense instructor who did not sugar coat any assessment of your work. Why should he? Who would that benefit?
I do remember him telling a 3rd year student that perhaps she should be become a schoolteacher and leave photography, as she had not matured in her vision in 3 years.
Harsh, but probably the best thing he could’ve done.
In my time at the school I developed a relationship with Dave Heath, that manifested itself in a series of portraits as well.

His body of work culminating in the seminal work, A Dialogue with Solitude, was a book I often went to look at in the school library and became a sought after purchase.
Not that many years ago, the book was reprinted in a larger format, and Dave graciously sent me a signed copy, which holds a cherished place in my library.

Why do I go on about this photographer?

Because Dave Heath was a huge influence on my photographic life. And he is getting his due. Somewhat. At 84.
His contemporaries enjoyed fame and perhaps fortune. What he did was guide the photographic minds of students into, perhaps, a more personal,emotional, vision.

This week, a show opens at the Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York, and a traveling exhibition Multitude, Solitude: The Photographs of Dave Heath will be on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, September 19, 2015 – February 21, 2016. A new book of the same title by Keith F. Davis and Michael Torosian will be published in October 2015 by Hall Family Foundation/Nelson-Atkins Museum/Yale University Press. You can pre-order the book here.
Crazy, I remember Michael from school many years ago. He has spent years creating fine photography books.

Go see it, or pick up the book, and know what a great still image can touch inside you.

As photographers, your visual acuity should be always challenged and inspired.
I have always found that a visit to a gallery, museum, or going through books, magazines (yes, hard copy), and sites helps inform, and stimulate.
Those who know me know that MOMA is a touchpoint for me, as the ever changing collection of art, along with an amazing permanent collection, always give me the solace in seeing things that are created for the sake of creation, not commerce. Sure, you can argue that some of it was created because a gallerist asked to have a piece for a particular sale or exhibit.
Not talking about that here right now.
On Saturday, I made a trip to the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, the only museum in the U.S. devoted exclusively to design in NYC.
Primarily a design collection, housed in a mansion, on the upper East Side. Withing the turn of the 19th walls live some of the most forward thinking design exhibits.
Before I go into a particular new exhibition, Provocation, I’d like to share one of the unique things that come with your experience to a visit here.
The Pen:

It looks like this:
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Although we all have a bit of G.A.S. (Gear Aquisition Syndrome), and we are all over the multiple screens, there are times you should really kick back, and visit some museums and galleries to see what photography looks like on the walls.
And there is some fantastic work out there right now.
In LA (actually Santa Monica):
Peter Fetterman Gallery
American Masters: The Silver Print.
This is an incredible collection from one of the top gallerists in the world, Peter Fetterman. If you have ever considered collection fine photography, your dream collection is here. Continue Reading »