The edges of the frame change everything about how we see a photograph. One of the great masters of the use of the photographic frame edge was Edward Weston, and today we look at his remarkable ability to show us “just enough” of the subject. The podcast briefly touches on gestalt theory for the visual arts as conceptualized by Rudolf Arnheim.

For some reason, the podcast file for this week’s Podcast doesn’t have any pictures embedded in the file. Not sure what happened, really, and I’m away from my “production computer” for a week or so, so I can’t check it. I’ll try to fix it when I’m back.

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For the last 16 years, I’ve been photographing structures and the landscape in Italy. Over the last two years, though, I’ve tried my hand at portraits and have learned some things about photography, my interests and the power of the large-format camera. This podcast features two versions of a portrait of a 97-year-old Italian man. Which do you think best portrays him? Post a comment with your opinion.

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As I’ve worked with one of my newest photographs, I’ve noted a loose relationship Alfred Stieglitz’ “The Steerage” from 1907. It reminded me that photographers need to be aware of the image makers who have gone before them and helped them see. Now, I’m not saying that my photograph is the same as Stieglitz’ masterpiece, but I do want to suggest that it’s important to build a visual sensibility based on awareness of other photographers’ work. If you’re not looking at images, you’re not growing as an image maker.

If you’re not familiar with Stieglitz, here are a couple sites that can help you out:
American Masters – Alfred Stieglitz
Masters of Photography – Alfred Stieglitz

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Photographs by Jeff Curto

Sometimes, when you think that there is a photographic subject in front of you, you can’t see the picture you want to make. In this episode, I talk about taking a left turn, both to find a photograph and to provide a catalyst for even more images. I also take a left turn with my vow to not talk about technical matters and wax rhapsodically about the new Epson V750 Pro scanner I’ve been using this past week.

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This episode of Camera Position is a bit different from previous episodes. First off, it is a lot longer. Weighing in at a little over an hour, it is a podcast of a presentation I made recently at the MacSpecialist store in Villa Park, Illinois. I had been invited to come and speak to a group of photographers, illustrators and designers on the creative process and how not to become stagnant creatively. I titled my presentation “Getting Back Your Box of Crayons” and spent my time talking about how creativity works and how we can nurture and encourage creativity in our lives. Thanks to the MacSpecialist folks for the opportunity to be a part of their schedule of presenters.
During the presentation, I reference a couple of PDF documents which are available for download here:
Soft & Hard
What If?

Also, I’ve posted a PDF of the “slideshow” of the presentation here:
Getting Back Your Box of Crayons

If you’re watching the podcast via iTunes on your computer, you’ll be able to see the slides in iTunes; otherwise you will probably want to download the PDF above. Unfortunately, the audio quality isn’t what you’ve come to expect from Camera Position, but I hope you’ll find the ideas useful.
The next episode of Camera Position will return to our regular format, but I thought at least some of you listeners might find this presentation interesting.

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