The significance of diversifying one’s photography practice cannot be overstated, offering valuable lessons and skill enhancements across various genres. This helpful video tutorial focuses on practical advice that transcends the conventional wisdom of merely capturing sunsets or the oft-repeated general tips scattered across the internet.
Coming to you from Park Cameras, this informative video offers three transformative tips to significantly improve your photography. The first tip emphasizes the importance of venturing into new photography genres, pushing beyond comfort zones to explore unfamiliar territories. This approach not only broadens a photographer’s skill set but also facilitates the application of techniques learned in one genre to others, enhancing overall acumen. For example, the video highlights how skills acquired in astrophotography can be adeptly applied to low-light and nighttime photography, demonstrating the cross-genre applicability of techniques. This interconnected learning process underscores the value of experimentation and adaptability in the continuous journey of improvement.
Furthermore, the video suggests emulating the work of admired photographers as a method of skill acquisition, akin to practicing a musical instrument by learning to play existing songs. This process of recreation allows for a deeper understanding of the techniques, compositions, and creative decisions behind the admired work. Additionally, revisiting and critically assessing past work offers insights into personal growth and areas for improvement, encouraging a reflective practice that contributes to a photographer’s development. These tips offer a roadmap for photographers at any stage of their journey to refine their craft and expand their creative horizons. Check out the video above for the full rundown.
Wildlife photographers are a talented bunch, but capturing a dazzling moment under the water or among the waves comes with a whole load of challenges. That’s why the winners of the Underwater Photographer of the Year Awards are extra impressive.
This year, Portuguese photographer Nuno Sá has been awarded the Marine Conservation Photographer of the Year prize for his stunning aerial shot of a whale washed up on a Portuguese beach.
Back in 2022, he captured the moment that an injured, 12-metre-long sperm whale washed up on Fonte da Telha beach on the west coast of Portugal. The photo, called ‘Saving Goliath’, was taken using a drone and captures about 30 bathers trying to push the sperm whale back into the sea. Sadly, the whale died a few hours later.
Thanks to this remarkable and moving photo, Sá was triumphant in the Marine Conservation Photographer category, which is in partnership with the Save Our Seas Foundation. The competition has 13 categories in total, and a whopping 6,500 photographs were submitted by over 500 participants.
‘It was a mix of emotions to see an animal that I am so used to filming, in different parts of our planet on the high seas, injured and dying fighting to stay on the surface. But it was also inspiring to see so many people risking their lives to try to save him. We are talking about an animal that in this case weighed more than 30 tons and was injured’, says Nuno Sá, in a statement. After approaching the whale himself, Sá realised that one of the people trying to save it was his ten-year-old daughter.
The competition’s jury president, Alex Mustard, says that ‘the photo gives us hope that people care and want to help the oceans, but it also warns us that bigger changes are needed.’
Sá also won big back in the 2015 competition, claiming not only the Underwater Photographer of the Year title but the International Macro winner, too.
Alex Dawson, a Swedish photographer, claimed the coveted Underwater Photographer of the Year title this year. You can have a look at the gallery of winning pics on the UPY website right here.
Did you see that Amsterdam is getting a brand-new waterfront museum?
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Understanding the economics of camera upgrades and their impact on a photographer’s business model is critical, especially in the professional realm. This helpful video essay addresses this topic head-on, shedding light on a common misconception among photographers about the relationship between new equipment and client charges.
Coming to you from Scott Choucino with Tin House Studio, this insightful video explores a scenario many photographers will find familiar: investing in high-end equipment with the expectation that it will automatically justify higher rates to clients. Choucino narrates a personal experience where upgrading to a camera with better specifications did not translate to an increase in client charges. The core message is that clients value the quality and satisfaction with the previous work; they are often indifferent to the photographer’s investment in new technology unless it offers something uniquely beneficial to them. This distinction is crucial, as it highlights the fallacy of expecting equipment upgrades to directly increase a photographer’s value in the eyes of their clients.
Moreover, Choucino emphasizes that while acquiring better equipment can sometimes enhance a photographer’s skills or offer new capabilities, it doesn’t guarantee a proportional increase in income from existing clients. The advice offered is strategic: maintain current clients at their existing rates while introducing higher rates for new clients as your skills and offerings improve. This approach allows photographers to gradually transition to a higher earning bracket without alienating their established client base. The distinction between being a better photographer and owning better equipment is underlined, reinforcing the idea that personal development, not just new gear, is what can truly elevate a photographer’s career. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Choucino.
For more than a decade, Melissa Stiers has made photography her main business with Purely Yours Photography, and over time she’s found the types of photos she enjoys taking most.
While a good portion of her work is done with products as models, the people who have worked with her have spoken, and voted her as best photographer in The Outlook and Sandy Post’s 2024 Reader’s Choice Awards.
Fourth Plinth Shortlist 2026, 2028: Clockwise, from top left, “Ancient Feelings,” by Thomas J Price; “Sweet Potatoes and Yams are Not the Same” by Veronica Ryan, “Hornero” by Gabriel Chaile, and “Lady in Blue” by Tschabalala Self. | Photos by James O. Jenkins
The Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square provides a prominent platform for public art. New proposals by seven artists made the shortlist for Fourth Plinth commissions in 2026 and 2028. The artists are Chila Kumari Singh Burman, Gabriel Chaile, Ruth Ewan, Thomas J Price, Veronica Ryan, Tschabalala Self and Andra Ursuţa. Sculptural models of all of their proposals are on display at the National Gallery through March 17. The public is encouraged to vote for their favorite. Ultimately two projects will be selected by the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, partly based on public feedback. Funding for the competition comes from the mayor of London with support from Arts Council England and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Currently, “Antelope” by Samson Kambalu is installed on the Fourth Plinth. Inspired by 1914 photograph of John Chilembwe (1871-1915), a pan-Africanist and Baptist preacher, and his friend John Chorley, a white European missionary, the sculpture will be on display until September. (2/19) | The Guardian
On Saturday, Feb. 24 (2-6 p.m.), Jack Shainman Gallery in New York is honoring the life and memory of Radcliffe Bailey (1968-2023). Working across painting, sculpture, and mixed-media, the Atlanta artist explored themes of ancestry, race, migration, and collective memory. The gallery worked with Bailey from 1998 until his death in November. | More
IMAGE: Above right, Radcliffe Bailey. | Photo by LaMont Hamilton
The Judith Alexander Foundation announced its inaugural Nellie Mae Rowe awards at the African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta’s (ADAMA) annual Flowers x Seeds fundraising and awards gala on Feb. 16. Artist Arturo Lindsay received the Flowers award ($30,000), recognizing an established, yet under-recognized figure. The Seeds award ($20,000), which “spotlights early-to mid-career artists whose innovative work promises to reshape contemporary understandings of Black art and culture in the 21st century,” went to Kelly Taylor Mitchell. Both artists are connected to Spelman College. Mitchell is an assistant professor of art and visual culture at the Atlanta HBCU for women and Lindsay is a professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Art and Art History. Judith Alexander (1932-2004) was a Georgia gallerist dedicated to bringing attention to artist Nellie Mae Rowe’s life and work. ADAMA was established by Atlanta artist Fahamu Pecou in 2018. (2/17) | More
Oluremi Onabanjo. | Photo by Austin Donohue. © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Oluremi C. Onabanjo is now the Peter Schub Curator in the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. In 2021, Onabanjo joined MoMA as associate curator of photography. She was officially promoted in January. During her tenure, she organized the exhibitions “Projects: Ming Smith” (2023) and “New Photography 2023: Kelani Abass, Akinbode Akinbiyi, Yagazie Emezi, Amanda Iheme, Abraham Oghobase, Karl Ohiri, Logo Oluwamuyiwa.” Previously, Onabanjo was director of exhibitions and collections at The Walther Collection. More recently, she served on the curatorial team of the 8th Triennial of Photography Hamburg in (2022), authored “Ming Smith: Invisible Man, Somewhere Everywhere,” and edited “Marilyn Nance: Last Day in Lagos,” which appeared on Culture Type’s list of the Best Black Art Books of 2022. (2/8) | More
The 2025 edition of the Hammer Museum’s Made in L.A. biennial will be co-curated by Essence Harden and Paulina Pobocha, a senior curator at the Hammer Museum. Harden is a curator at the California African American Museum (CAAM) in Los Angeles. For Frieze Los Angeles (Feb. 29-March 3), Harden is curating the Focus section of the art fair and will be in conversation with artist Deborah Roberts at Vielmetter Los Angeles on March 2. In fall 2025, Made in L.A. will be presented in collaboration with CAAM. (2/13) | More
The Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum announced a committee of scholars that will help guide content, programming, and research for the forthcoming museum. The 15 members include Keisha N. Blain, professor of Africana studies and history at Brown University; Paula J. Giddings, Elizabeth A. Woodson Professor Emerita of Africana Studies at Smith College; and Kimberly A. Scott, professor of women and gender studies in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. Melanie Adams, who heads the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, is also interim director the women’s history museum, which is expected to debut in about a decade. In March, the museum is launching new initiatives and a digital exhibition in celebration of Women’s History Month. (2/13) | More
IMAGE: Above left, Made in L.A. 2025 Co-Curators Essence Harden (left) and Paulina Pobocha. | Photo by Lauren Randolph
JARED MCGRIFF, “Measure My Diameter in Lightyears,” 2023 (oil on canvas, 58 ¹⁄₄ x 60 inches). | © Jared McGriff, Courtesy the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
Vielmetter Los Angeles announced its representation of Jared McGriff, a self-taught artist who describes his paintings as “fiction about reality.” Vielmetter opened “Jared McGriff: On Being a Wild Dream,” the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery in March 2023. Vielmetter said McGriff “has developed a luminous and vibrating visual language that is foregrounded in a space of memory. His expressionistic paintings conjure mundane moments and render them in ethereal brush strokes, transforming scenes of the everyday into ephemeral philosophical ruminations.” McGriff lives and works in Miami, Fla., where he is creating new work for a solo exhibition at Vielmetter in spring 2025. He is also represented by Spinello Projects in Miami. (2/5) | More
CT
I try to go around with a couple of cameras. On the day I took this, I had two Nikon film cameras, one black and white and one colour. I had some errands to run down Sunset Boulevard. I went to a repair shop to have some boots resoled, then headed to Amoeba Music – although it didn’t open until 10.30am. All of a sudden, people started running past me. I thought: “What the hell is going on?” I heard shouts and the words: “Someone’s shooting.”
As I came around the corner, I saw the shooter and heard the bullets ricocheting – bing, bang, bing. I ducked beneath a row of newspaper dispensers. Craig Marquez, a plain-clothed Los Angeles police officer I recognised, pulled up with his partner, and they started running down the street. I followed them taking pictures. When they got to the shooter, Tyler Brehm, he was holding a knife in his left hand. He shouted: “I wanna die.” And then I saw him reach for his gun. Marquez shot him and he fell to the ground. It was so surreal.
I developed my photos the same afternoon, sent them to the LA Times and the next morning one of them was on the front page. People have said: “You’re taking advantage of the victim.” But I thought: “Wait a minute. I do photography: people go purposefully to war regions hoping to get pictures like that.” The whole thing lasted less than five minutes but I had nightmares about it after, about being right in the middle of a shooting. Twelve years later, I still have nightmares.
It turned out Brehm was a prescription medication addict and his relationship with his girlfriend had ended. In the end, it was “suicide by cop”. He had killed someone and was shooting indiscriminately. People with mental health issues shouldn’t be able to get their hands on guns, but in a population of 350 million, how do you control that? We have the Second Amendment, we’re an armed nation. I grew up in Boyle Heights in east LA during the 1990s and it was brutal. I think my experience of that – I’d seen drive-by shootings before – helped me remain calm and take the photos. I knew I was out of range.
Boyle Heights is considered the first Chicano neighbourhood of LA and has the highest density of Latinos anywhere in the nation – 94%. I took cinema classes at LA City College. Boyle Heights was different to the standard view of Los Angeles, so I thought I should start photographing it. There was a competition at a gallery and Freaky 1s, a photograph I took of girls at a party, won the prize. I thought then: “Shit, maybe I’m good at this.”
That picture was part of my project Eastsiders. The photographs were spontaneous, not styled or set up. I think that’s what makes them special – I might just have been in someone’s backyard, having a beer. The writer Gay Talese called his form of journalism the art of hanging out. That’s what my photography is like. I like it to look cool, too. That’s probably what people like about it.
At one time, that’s what photographers would shoot: everything. Now everyone is specialised. I’ve done work for Miramax, a wheel company, the LA Weekly, fashion houses and music labels. I like that I’ve done different things. Sometimes you can’t be so choosy. That’s what I tell younger photographers: you gotta work, you gotta get off your ass and pay your bills. Not every job is the “art of photography”. Some photographers think they’re really special. They act like assholes and I think: “You take pictures!” I never want to be like that.
Born: Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, 1972.
Trained: “Photography classes in high school, and after that self-taught by books and assisting photographers.”
Influences: “Diane Arbus, Martin Scorsese, Bruce Davidson, Larry Clark, David Lynch, John Cassavetes, Richard Avedon, Phil Stern and William Eggleston.”
High Point: “When everything was still kind of new. I had a lot of friends trying to do different things, people who had enthusiasm and drive.”
Low Point: “When things really slowed down and I wasn’t sure I could make it doing photography alone. Leonard Cohen once said he went through the same thing – and that only an artist could know that feeling. It’s horrible.”
Top Tip: “Stay enthusiastic. It’s a challenge when your art or craft becomes your way of supporting yourself, but you have to keep that enthusiasm no matter what.”
