on this cold winter day i am sad, quiet and still.
i just got word that photographer, colleague and friend nick dekker passed away.
he was generous, honest and full of life.
time is relentless.

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below is one of nick’s platino type prints. the photograph was made in
north dakota near his parent’s home. it is titled “forgotten dreams”

a portrait of one of my teaching colleagues harry liles. this one was captured last week with a wood and brass large format camera and t55 polaroid film (yep i still have a few boxes left!).

jay maisel is an amazing photographer. in fact he’s one of the best.  his photographs are vibrant and alive. he is a living legend. over the last few years i’ve had a handful of opportunities to hang out with jay and i’ve consistently been impressed and inspired. a few weeks back when we crossed paths i asked jay a handful of questions and recorded his response. as always, jay’s words were honest, insightful, entertaining and thought-provoking.

click on the play button below to listen to 10 min of our conversation. before you begin, grab a pencil and a scratch sheet of paper as you may want to jot down some notes. enjoy!

david duchemin is more than a typical photographer and the more i get to know him the more impressed i am.  as a person david is honest, humble, engaged and fully alive. the poet kay ryan once said, “i like to think of all good poetry as providing more oxygen into the atmosphere; it just makes it easier to breathe.” that’s exactly how i think about david’s work (whether photography, teaching, writing or speaking)… in other words, while viewing or experiencing david’s work i’m awestruck and my breath is taken away… yet after a few moments its as if there’s more oxygen in my lungs.  as result i breath and live more fully and wholly.  if you’re not familiar with his work/books/blog/etc. click here.

as a side note, david and i have been talking about putting together a photographic workshop/retreat sometime next year. it would be a chance to dig deep, to be renewed, revived and of course to have a ton of fun. collectively, we would explore how to create a solid vision and in turn discover how to create more compelling photographs. if you’re interested in offering some suggestions of workshops you’d like to see, or if you’d simply like to sign up to be notified of workshops click here.

the last time david and i met up i asked him a few questions and you can listen to our conversation by clicking the play button below – enjoy!

i just received my copy of ralph clevenger’s book, “photographing nature” and i am so excited to finally have the book in my hands (thanks to greg lawler for snapping the photo above and below). the book is phenomenal!!!

as many of you know, ralph is one of my colleagues/on the faculty at brooks, one of my photographic mentors and a great friend. as you can imagine i had high hopes and expectations for the book. i’m incredibly pleased to say the the book exceeds even my extremely high and outlandish expectations!

i’ll post a full review once i’ve read it completely, yet for now you can view
more info about his book by clicking here.

joe walking along the goleta pier

tim mantoani has been working on an amazing project titled, ”behind the photographs.” he is a brooks institute grad and was having a show at brooks institute (where i teach). the show is absolutely stunning. if you live anywhere near santa barbara you have to check it out! to the left is a photo that i snapped of tim while he was setting up the show.

click on the link below to listen to a conversation we had while walking through the brooks cota gallery. you will find his words intriguing, enlightening and inspiring – enjoy!

click here to view more of tim’s work

Here’s a pic of a recent pic of me photographing Kelly Slater (photo credit: Travis Lee). Not only is Kelly a 9x World Champion surfer, he’s a super cool and down-to-earth guy. I wish I could show you some of my photos from the shoot – they are insane!! Once they’ve been published, I’ll post some here. For now, click on the image above for a larger view.

here’s a portrait of one of my colleagues in his office at brooks. his name is chris broughton and he is an incredibly inspiring person, photographer and teacher.

to view more of her work (like the image below): click here

while at the palm springs photo festival, i’ve had the opportunity to spend time and photograph two of my photographic heroes: steve and duane.  needless to say, it was both interesting and inspiring. i hope you enjoy these portraits and be sure to click on the links below to check out their work.

steve mccurry | duane michaels

for now, here’s something from this morning when i had the opportunity to talk with john paul capinigro (on the right is a photo i snapped of john paul today). if you’re not familiar with john paul he is an incredibly talented photographer, teacher and creative thinker. he is honest, authentic and inspiring.

this morning, we happened to be walking from one location to another. while we walked, i recorded our conversation (in fact, in the background you’ll hear the ambient noise of our footsteps, birds, street sweepers, cars, etc.). in spite of the ambient sounds, walking and talking makes for an interesting conversational context. even more, what john paul has to say is definitely worth checking out.  in sum, i hope that john paul’s words illuminate your day!

to view more of john paul’s work (like the image below) click here

this morning, i was once again thinking about joyce tenneson’s visit to brooks. her words were honest and hope-filled. her presence was like an incoming tide that brought buoyancy to otherwise stationary vessels.
i hope you enjoy this portrait.

this is a portrait of joyce tenneson from last week. she came to brooks (where i teach) for a visit and i had the privilege of sitting down and talking with her for a while. her approach and perspective on photography was absolutely inspiring. to see some of her work click here