The joy of photography is in how it manages to capture the beauty in the everyday world around us. That is why a picture is worth a thousand words. Delightful indie game Toem takes this idea to heart in its presentation of a deceptively mundane world that is full of potential adventure for the player, even if it is just through the lens of a camera. Now on Xbox Game Pass, Toem is a wonderfully relaxing title about the joys of photography that will leave you with a new outlook on life.

The world of Toem is rendered in simple black-grey tones. The game’s diorama-esque levels are full of different biomes, characters, and secrets to interact with. The game sets the player on their adventure by handing them a camera and tasking them with climbing to the top of a mountain in order to photograph the titular phenomenon.

Toem separates its adventure into smaller areas that range from snowy peaks to city streets. All of these are bustling with NPCs just living their lives in the world. In order to progress on to the next area in pursuit of your ultimate goal you will need to collect a certain number of stamps. Stamps are earned by completing side-quests given by the game’s NPCs.

These quests are delightfully silly and written with concise charm. You will likely only talk to an NPC a couple of times in the course of accomplishing whatever task they give you, but it is always a delightful fleeting moment. Every task given to you can be solved with some unconventional thinking and your camera. Somebody wants a picture of a fish, another wants you to scare away some birds, and there may even be a ghost haunting the woods.

All of these stories as small pastiches of life within the world of Toem. They rarely connect but they don’t need to. Like a scrapbook of photos, the individual snapshots of the people that these quests provide culminate in a more cohesive collage of the world. It is a living breathing thing, and by capturing passing moments with your camera you are able to appreciate them all the better.

Similarly, Toem’s compendium invites a deeper connection to the game’s world. Players can collect 54 pictures of every animal in the game in order to fill out their compendium. Like the game’s side-quests these compendium photos require the player to explore every corner of every map in Toem.

In addition to eventually finding the desired creature and taking a photo of it, the player will find themselves surrounded by things they never would have seen had they not gone out of their way to fill the compendium. It is a feeling akin to real-life photography, in which you set out on an adventure to capture a single image but find yourself taking in everything around you on the journey to that image being taken. That single photo — in real life or Toem’s compendium — is loaded with more experience than can be put on a roll of film.

For anybody with a passing interest in photography, or for those who just want a chill adventure filled with delightful characters, Toem is the perfect game to sit down with.

Toem is now on Xbox Game Pass.

It’s a Barbie world, and Nicole Houff is living in it.

The Minneapolis-based artist has made a specialty of posing dolls — Mattel’s most famous, to be exact — and photographing them around the state, in miniature midcentury modern sets and sometimes cheeky positions. (Picture a naked Ken doll with a strategically placed surfboard, or a holiday scene with Barbie posed on a couch with a martini in hand and nearby Ken tied up in Christmas lights.) She has even crafted a First Avenue Barbie and a State Fair Barbie.

Houff scours Etsy and eBay for the outfits, furnishings and accessories for the more than 100 Barbie dolls she owns. And then she builds a theme, creates a backdrop and positions them ever-so-delicately in her home studio.

We talked with Houff about her photographic homage to Barbie, Barbie’s big moment and why she’s not a diehard collector.

Q: Describe your art.
A: I do fine art photographs featuring Barbie and Ken dolls. In a nutshell, that’s what I do. I’ll have a general concept for a scene or a theme. Then, in my Minneapolis studio, what I do is I’ll pull together the doll accessories, anything that I need for the shoot, and I set them up, and then I design lighting around it.

Q: How long have you been doing this?
A: Sixteen years.

Q: So, why Barbie?
A: I think Barbie’s journey from 1959 to where she is now is incredibly fascinating. Not many toys are relevant 65 years later.

Q: How do you find the pieces to make these elaborate scenes?
A: That’s really the most fun part. I have about 100 dolls, but finding all the little accessories and all the little details is like an adventure leading up to the actual shoot. I can use eBay and Etsy and Facebook Marketplace, anything like that. Even from Mattel, some of the stuff I use is directly from them, but way more stuff is made through a third party.

Q: Are all of the accessories you have official Barbie accessories?
A: There’s more than just Barbie stuff, because it’s the size that matters. There’s dollhouse scale, model train scale, and Barbie scale, a 1:6 scale. I can do searches for the right-sized items. Especially nowadays with 3-D printers, people make accessories that you wouldn’t have been able to find a few years ago, so the sky’s the limit.

Q: Are all of your dolls Barbie dolls?
A: They’re all Barbie. I use a lot of reproduction dolls or vintage-inspired dolls because I like referencing the aesthetic from the 1950s and ’60s. I do have one doll made by Mattel that’s actually a Julie doll. She has the same face as one of the Kristy dolls, which is one of Barbie’s friends. That’s just me being a little overshare-y now.

Q: Please, overshare! Are you a Barbie collector on top of a Barbie photographer?
A: I get asked that all the time. I manhandle the dolls, I don’t have dolls that are still in the box and I use a lot of reproduction dolls. So, I wouldn’t be considered a classic collector, but I still do collect the dolls. I have around 100 Barbies and Kens in total, and some of them would be considered solid collector dolls, even if they’re out of the box.

Q: What is it like for a Barbie lover to see people go crazy over Barbie again?
A: I do art fairs, and I’ve done them for around a dozen years. It’s one of my favorite ways to interact with people because people don’t tend to have filters at an art fair. You get to see some real emotions, expressions and reactions.

Over the years, it’s been fun when people see my art and it spurs a lot of questions and excitement. This summer has been next level because Barbie is so in the ether and on top of the public consciousness. The movie has generated this newfound audience for me, which has been incredibly exciting.

Q: How did you make my favorites, Grain Belt Barbie and State Fair Barbie?
A: What I do is I go to the location first, and I get the photo. Then I print it on a matte, non-reflective paper and hang it like a backdrop in the studio and set up the dolls so they look people-sized. Of course, it gives me a reason to go out and have some fun in our city.

Q: How do you get Barbie to do things like hold a drink?
A: There’s a lot of trickery, if you will. I can suspend things with a little bit of wire, because Barbie hands aren’t that functional. I get these little clear glue dots that crafters use. They’re very easy to hide. I don’t add things digitally to my photographs.

Q: What do you hope to see in the Barbie movie?
A: It’s obviously well put together, very thoughtful, and the aesthetic is very over-the-top. I mean just the extra, extra, extra pink. I don’t do a ton of really pink pieces, but I’ve noticed this summer people are really gravitating to more of my pieces that have pink in them. I’m looking forward to seeing the movie to see if I’m inspired. I’m definitely going to make some new work on top of the pieces I already have.

The exposure triangle is practically gospel that just about every new photographer needs to master, but there is more to it than simply varying shutter speed, aperture, and ISO to create a balanced exposure. This helpful video tutorial features an experienced landscape photographer discussing how to properly approach the exposure triangle to ensure you can make photos that are both technically and creatively satisfying. 

Coming to you from Christian Irmler – Landscape Photography, this great video tutorial discusses the idea of turning the exposure triangle into a “triangle of styles.” The idea is to uncouple style and exposure so your creative vision is not inadvertently cast aside by the goal of getting a technically correct exposure. Creative vision should dictate the technical exposure, as there are many different ways to represent the same scene, and each of those will require a different combination of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO and often, different total exposures. Learning to approach the process in this manner will help you gain far more creative control over images. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Irmler. 

And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out “Photographing The World 1: Landscape Photography and Post-Processing with Elia Locardi.”

Your fancy smartphone won’t do you much good if it’s dead. Here’s the best way to charge yours, from a certified tech pro.

One more knowledge drop from me to you: Your phone is full of hidden apps and settings. I’m always surprised developers don’t brag about this stuff more.

Most of us take a picture or video every single day. Make them count with these simple steps.

1. Set yourself up for success

When was the last time you did a little upkeep on your phone’s camera?

– Clean your camera lens with a microfiber cloth: Inexpensive microfiber cloths are excellent because they won’t scratch your lenses. Wipe down your front and back cameras to get rid of any fingerprints or debris. Be gentle.

– Get comfortable with your camera specs: If you’re taking a video of something important, take a minute to switch your camera to 4K if you have it. The same goes for photos. Your phone likely has many optimized modes to take the best pictures, depending on the scenario. Try them out and find the ones you like best.

Pro tip: I love portrait mode for dramatic pictures of pets and little kids. So cute!

Double-check your storage

High-quality photos take up a lot of space. If you plan on flexing your photography skills, check your phone’s internal storage. Take a practice photo with the settings you like, then look at the photo file size to get a rough idea of how many you can take before you run out of space.

Are your phone’s photos backed up? Are you sure? Here’s how to get the job done.

2. Go au naturel at the best places to take photos in Arizona

Natural light beats artificial light in nearly every situation. It’s not quite that simple, though. Remember these rules of thumb:

– Don’t photograph a person standing directly under a light. Direct light is harsh and can highlight bumps, wrinkles and blemishes. Soft natural light is much more flattering.

– Have your subject face the light so it illuminates their features. Outside, that means facing the sun. If you’re stuck with artificial light, do the same. Have the person look toward the light.

– Find a patch of shade if it’s bright enough that your subject is squinting.

Pro tip: Photographers swear by cloudy days for portraits. There’s still enough light outside to make everyone look nice and bright, but no glaring sun to squint at. Try it!

We all want to look our best. Here’s how to look better in selfies and group pics.

3. Use a tripod at the most photographed spots in Arizona

Depending on what you’re taking photos of, a tripod can go a long way. It helps you find the perfect height and keeps your phone stable. It might feel like overkill, but tripods don’t cost much and genuinely make a difference.

Pro tip: They’re perfect for group photos. No more leaning your phone against something and hoping it stays up.

4. Follow the golden rule when taking pictures at the best places to take photos in Arizona

Ever wonder what that grid option in your smartphone camera is good for? Nope, you don’t want to center your subject. Instead, use the rule of thirds.

It’s a composition guideline that divides your image into a three-by-three grid. All the key elements should be along the lines, not in the middle of a square. This makes for a more balanced, dynamic result.

Tall subjects such as trees or buildings should appear to meet the top corners of your center box. Smaller subjects should begin with the bottom line of the center box.

5. Don’t wait for the perfect moment

Capturing movement is challenging. All the dog owners and parents of small children know what I mean. Burst mode can help. This feature enables your camera to take pictures faster than humanly possible. You get multiple photos for each second and can select your favorites.

On just about every smartphone that supports it, you can activate burst mode by holding down the shutter button. Go to your gallery and choose the photo set to see all your shots.

All those pictures take up a lot of space, so just save the best shots from the set.

Bonus tip: Here’s how to find and search all the images you’ve sent to other people.

Follow @kimkomando

Food photography has become an essential aspect of the culinary world. It inspires us to appreciate the visual artistry of food and entices our taste buds.

Whether you are a professional photographer or an enthusiastic foodie, capturing the essence and allure of food can be a challenging yet rewarding endeavor. In this article, we will explore five detailed tips to help you master the art of compelling food photography. These tips will enable you to create images that evoke desire and admiration.

1. Set the stage with thoughtful composition.

Composition is crucial in food photography, as it determines how the viewer’s eyes navigate the image. Start by selecting a suitable backdrop and props that complement the food and enhance its visual appeal.

Consider elements such as color, texture, and shape to create an aesthetically pleasing arrangement. A rustic wooden table, a clean white plate, or a vibrant cloth can add character and context to your composition.

Next, think about the placement of the main subject. Use the rule of thirds to guide your positioning. Place the food slightly off-center, aligning it with the gridlines to create a visually balanced and engaging photograph. Experiment with angles.

Try photographing from above to capture intricate details. Or, photograph at eye level for a more intimate and inviting perspective. Remember, the composition should enhance the food and tell a story. It should draw viewers into the delicious world you’ve created.

2. Harness natural light for stunning results.

Lighting is paramount in food photography, and natural light is often the best choice for achieving captivating results. Position your setup near a window or outdoors, where you can use soft, diffused light.

Diffusion can be achieved using sheer curtains or a white sheet to soften harsh sunlight. The gentle shadows and highlights created by natural light will accentuate the textures and colors of the food. This makes it appear more appetizing and natural.

Avoid using direct, harsh light sources like flash or overhead lighting. The harsh light can create unflattering reflections and flatten the image. Instead, experiment with different angles and times of the day to find the optimal lighting conditions that complement the mood and style you want to convey.

Remember to adjust your camera settings accordingly and embrace the beauty of natural light to elevate your food photography.

3. Pay attention to styling and presentation.

How you style and present the food can greatly impact its visual appeal. Prioritize freshness and visual vibrancy using the freshest ingredients and garnishes that complement the dish.

Consider the overall mood and theme you want to convey, whether it’s a casual and inviting setting or a high-end gourmet experience. Remember that simplicity often reigns supreme in food photography, allowing the food to take center stage.

Focus on capturing details highlighting the textures, such as the glistening glaze on a dessert or the steam rising from a hot dish. Play with layers, such as adding a sprinkle of herbs or a drizzle of sauce, to add depth and dimension to the composition.

Additionally, pay attention to the cleanliness and neatness of the plate and surrounding areas Make sure there are no distracting elements that take away from the main subject.

4. Experiment with different perspectives and depths of field.

Varying perspectives and depths of the field can create captivating and dynamic food images. Start by experimenting with different angles, such as shooting from below or the side, to add interest and uniqueness to your compositions. For close-up shots, use a macro lens to capture intricate details that might go unnoticed with a standard lens.

When it comes to depth of field, consider using a wide aperture (low f-stop number) to achieve a shallow depth of field. This technique lets you selectively focus on the main subject, blurring the background and creating a pleasing bokeh effect.

This separation draws attention to the food, creating a sense of depth and emphasizing its appetizing qualities. However, be mindful of maintaining a critical focus on the most important elements, such as the front portion of the dish or the hero ingredient.

5. Edit mindfully to enhance the visual appeal.

Post-processing is an essential step in food photography to refine the image further and enhance its visual appeal. Use photo editing software to adjust the exposure, white balance, and colors to represent the dish’s true colors and mood accurately. Tweak the contrast, saturation, and sharpness to create a balanced and visually striking image.

While editing, strive for a natural and realistic look. Avoid over-editing, which can result in an unnatural appearance. Aim to maintain the authentic colors and textures of the food, ensuring that the final result looks appealing yet true to life.

Experiment with different editing styles to find a signature look representing your unique vision and style as a food photographer.

Practice and dedication

Mastering the art of compelling food photography requires practice, experimentation, and attention to detail. By implementing these five tips — thoughtful composition, harnessing natural light, paying attention to styling and presentation, experimenting with perspectives and depths of field, and mindful editing — you can elevate your food photography to new heights.

Remember to have fun, be patient, and continually push the boundaries of your creativity. With dedication and practice, you’ll be able to capture the delicious essence of food in a way that engages and delights your audience.

Assignment

Now that you have learned these valuable tips for compelling food photography, it’s time to put them into practice.

Select a dish or recipe that inspires you and create your own food photography masterpiece. Experiment with different compositions, lighting conditions, and editing techniques.

Share your best shot with us in the Photofocus Community. Describe your creative choices and how these tips helped you capture the dish’s essence.

Remember, the joy of food photography lies in the process, so embrace the journey and let your culinary artistry shine through your lens.

The theme of this year’s Cortona on the Move festival, held annually in Tuscany, is More or Less, and the way in which those two categories can be used to understand ourselves and our world.

Across 26 exhibitions, documentary photographers explore the contrasts between wealth and poverty, abundance and scarcity, and the marginal and the mainstream.

Below, photographer and festival artistic director Paolo Woods explains his theme.

“I’ve always been very interested in why documentary photography has been so fascinated by poverty, and has so much forgotten wealth, the well-heeled and the rich; and why most of the images of the rich were commercial, celebratory, advertising, or just pure portraiture – but always made on the terms of the sitters,” he said.

“Secondly, I think today, with the press melting like snow under the sun, the role of the festival is not only to show good work but to say something.

“So much of what is produced in photography today is focusing on the inner, focusing on the intimate, focusing on what you feel, focusing on the personal at the expense of the political.

“Photography is an incredible instrument for exploring the self, but it can’t only be about the self; it has to address a larger community and the conditions of the world we live in – what you could call political work.

“If we go back to the old distinction where we divide photography into windows and mirrors, I do feel there are now a lot of mirrors, and the windows all tend to show the same thing. But I also feel there is a lot of work that deserves to be shown that deals with the world we’re in.

“In a year where we saw inflation galloping, and we see statistics about inequality, especially after the pandemic, skyrocketing, I thought we can’t escape this. I want to speak about wealth and poverty.

“This cleavage between more and less is a way you could look at the world. It’s a filter through which you can look at not only issues about the economy and wealth, but other issues too.

“It’s about who we are. And it’s also about, obviously, the wealthy and how they portray themselves, and how we portray them, and how we imagine them. It’s not that the wealthy are underrepresented; they may be overrepresented, but on their terms.

“A poor person doesn’t have a press secretary, a PR person, dogs and barriers and villas with alarms. No poor person decides how they get photographed.

“Now when you photograph somebody important, you first speak with somebody in between who tells you what kind of image you can make, who looks at the image to decide how much retouching there is going to be, and who then decides what you can do with it. We’re not even close to journalism; we’re close to hagiography.

“It’s not only about the rich, it’s about how you portray things. We are used to a kind of photography, and we see the kind of images already in our minds before they are taken.

“I’ve tried to go a bit beyond that cliche and say wealth and poverty, but not only those issues, can be portrayed in different ways. And wealth and poverty can be found in Europe, or Africa, South America, the US or anywhere else.

“I’m looking for work that will speak to me from completely new perspectives about the world that surrounds us. It can start from something personal, but become much more general, and speak to many more people. A few years back you would have had a hard time defining that as documentary photography.”

Five to see …

Irina Werning’s How to Survive Inflation from a Pro consists of deadpan set pieces making wry comments on Argentina’s decades of double-digit inflation.

Makeup adviser and trade union delegate Lara, for example, poses with banknotes representing one month’s salary plus earnings from her freelance modelling jobs.

For Woods, “Werning comes at it from an economist’s point of view and tells you what is the system and what lies behind it. She makes photo illustrations that are explanations.”

Nikita Teryoshin’s Nothing Personal explores the terrain of defence exhibitions and arms fairs, and is installed appropriately and effectively in the bunker-like former armoury of Cortona’s Fortezza del Girifalco.

The off guard, anonymised attenders represent a class of merchants whose business is combat.

In Woods’s eyes, “Nikita is a young photographer who has an entire tradition of photojournalism behind him, but he employs a different language. He approaches it in a different way.”

Larry Fink’s Class Issues exhibition counterposes two distinct bodies of work. The first, and most familiar, includes photographs of Hollywood parties taken for Vanity Fair.

Fink, says Woods, “was not photographing Warren Beatty, Hillary Clinton, this or that actress, he was photographing very self-important people playing roles”.

The other work on show is of the less glamorous lifestyles of his neighbours in Pennsylvania, for whom roleplaying would appear to be an unaffordable luxury.

Maria Planas’s Warlike Approaches to Tourism is an archival and textual exploration of the impact of the leisure industry on major tourist destinations, most notably Mallorca.

A wealth of material is displayed in a floor-to-ceiling installation designed to overwhelm the viewer while addressing issues arising from the island’s regular “invasions” by holidaymakers, including the real estate bubble, the ecological crisis and sex tourism.

Unexpectedly, Planas’s most abundant visual resource is the archive of her photographer grandfather, the individual most responsible for crystallising the iconography of the island as a leisure destination.

Get rich or die tryin’ is a group show featuring work by Jamel Shabbaz, Marc Baptiste, Janette Beckman and Dana Lixenberg, among others, focusing on rap music’s extraordinary journey from disfranchised cultural periphery to mainstream acceptance.

The irony is not lost on Woods: “At the beginning, it was super marginal, yet it embraced the values of extreme wealth,” he said.

• The Cortona on the Move festival in Cortona, Tuscany, began on 13 July and runs until 1 October

Nina and Olivia

This portrait of a couple with Down’s Syndrome, taken at their home by the London-based duo Bar and Avshalom, won second prize. Their work documents love, acceptance and intimacy outside the social norms of age, gender, body image and disability

Photograph: Rona Bar and Ofek Avshalom

Photo by OCTC

OWENSBORO, Ky. — Owensboro Community & Technical College is pleased to announce the current photography exhibition located in the Dayman Art Gallery on the upper level of the Learning Resource Center, on the Main Campus at 4800 New Hartford Road. The exhibition, titled Candid, features talented alumni photographers. The exhibition will run from July 17 through Aug. 3, showcasing the remarkable works of six exceptional photographers, each with their perspective on the world as seen through their unique lens.

Dr. Meredith Skaggs, Heritage, Humanities, and Fine Arts Department Chair, celebrates the exhibition.

“Capturing candid moments holds immense value. The world we face today is often dominated by staged and curated content. Yet, these candid moments serve as precious reminders of what’s truly seen through the eyes of these talented creatives,” said Dr. Skaggs.

Each photographer highlighted in the show is an OCTC alumnus; several have established their own photography and/or media services businesses.

Chelsea Howard Bickett is the creative force behind the camera at Chelsea Howard Photography. She is a resident of Owensboro, but also enjoys traveling to photography locations. When not behind the camera, you will find Bickett embracing various roles of wife, dog mom, plant enthusiast, adventurer, and digital marketer. She earned her Associate in Arts from OCTC in December 2014.

Kevin Brown is a headshot and portrait photographer based in Owensboro. His work has been featured in several digital and print publications including Kentucky Living, Owensboro Living, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro Times and more. Brown is returning to OCTC this fall to complete his Associate in Fine Arts degree.

Anna Lake Crasher serves Kentucky Wesleyan College as the director of campus ministry. In addition to her work at KWC, Crasher and her husband, Carlton, enjoy traveling and sharing moments of their adventures through photography. She earned her Associate in Arts degree from OCTC in May 2016.

Nick Eskridge is a deputy sheriff in Ohio County. Eskridge enjoys capturing moments from unique perspectives, ones that may be otherwise overlooked, including aerial photography. He earned his OCTC Criminal Justice degree in May 2009 and returned to complete his Associate in Arts degree in December 2012.

Madi Richardson focuses on the simple details of life, whether that is an in-home family session or an adventurous day with your love. While she loves capturing the candid moments of the lives of her clients, capturing them the way it’s lived, she also has a passion for creating editorial work. Richardson earned her Associate in Arts degree from OCTC in December 2016.

Kobe Shrewsberry serves as the production associate for Crossings Camps. Her work includes developing strategic digital campaigns. Here, her creativity allows her to not only see the beauty in each moment but to communicate those moments via the connections available throughout social media. Kobe completed her Associate in Arts degree from OCTC in May 2020.

OCTC offers an Associate in Fine Arts degree and includes digital photography programming. Those interested in coursework may contact octc.info@kctcs.edu. Classes for the the fall semester begin Aug. 14, 2023.

This is the 29th installment of the online series by Peter Fetterman Gallery called the Power of Photography highlighting hope, peace and love in the world. We invite you to enjoy and reflect on these works during this time.

André Kertész
Stairs at Montmartre, Paris, 1926
© Andre Kertesz / Courtesy of Peter Fetterman Gallery

“The moment always dictates in my work. Everybody can look, but they don’t necessarily see. I see a situation and I know that it’s right”
~ André Kertész (1894-1985)

André was a modernist, revolutionary. His images are always quiet and subtle. The complete opposite of “in your face” as most contemporary photography is. This is a small gem of a print. I have often kept it on a little table easel on my desk and I look at it whenever I need a dream like distraction. He keeps the central space empty and plays with light and shadow instead and creates a perspective that makes the image so fresh and unique. As his fellow Hungarian photographer and great friend Brassai said “André Kertész has two qualities that are essential for a great photographer. An insatiable curiosity about the world, about people and about life and a precise sense of form”.

Gianni Berengo Gardin
Venice Lido, 1958
© Gianni Berengo Gardin / Courtesy Peter Fetterman Gallery

Gianni is 90 years old now but like many photographers I have met who live into a ripe old age they are still full oflife and positive energy. This image has always put a smile on my face. I guess I am old enough to remember 78 gramophone records and record players like this. There must have been a whole era before streaming services!No social distancing here. A moment of spontaneous joy and happiness to revel in.

Thurston Hopkins
On The Isle de la Cité, Paris, 1952
© Thurston Hopkins / The Grace Robertson | Thurston Hopkins Archive / Courtesy of Peter Fetterman Gallery

“I take the rather unpopular view – among photographers – that words and pictures need one another.”
~ Thurston Hopkins

I have a feeling Thurston would have enjoyed our daily series, pairing words with photos. Especially as a lifelong photo journalist. Hopkins spent most of his career working for Picture Post. Unlike other photographers, Hopkins firmly believed in the importance of a strong rapport between the writer and photographer. Hopkins himself has said, “I take the rather unpopular view – among photographers – that words and pictures need one another.”

Ralph Gibson
Place de la République, Paris, 1986
© 2023 Ralph Gibson / Courtesy of Peter Fetterman Gallery

“For me, photography is a subtractive process. If you’re making a drawing, you add lines until you’ve finished, so that’s an additive process. If you’re making a sculpture out of marble, you subtract and keep chipping away until you have what you want. In the same way, in a world of infinite possible objects to photograph, I eliminate everything I don’t want in a frame until I’m finally left with what I do want.”
~ Ralph Gibson

Ralph Gibson’s eye is unmatched in creating visually striking photographs. He meticulously arranges elements within his frame to create strong graphic compositions that feature clean lines, geometric forms and a sense of balance. Gibson’s exceptional attention to detail and minimalist style create a sense of wonder and invite the viewer to engage with his photographs beyond their physical form. Harmony and elegance are embedded within this simple, yet dazzling, image

William B. Post
Woman Picking Flowers, 1900
© 2023 William B. Post / Courtesy of Peter Fetterman Gallery

“If you look the right way, you can see the whole world is a garden”
~ Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924)

William B. Post was one of the great turn of the century pictorialist photographers. His great advocate was no less than the legendary Alfred Stieglitz who revered his photographic accomplishments and promoted him when and wherever he could. Stieglitz invited him to become a member of his Photo Secession group. He was a master practitioner of the platinum print process and this exquisite print is absolutely beautiful in person.

Bert Hardy
Millions Like Her, Betty Burden, A Shop Girl, Birmingham, 1951/Printed later
© 2023 Bert Hardy / Courtesy of Peter Fetterman Gallery

“The ideal picture tells something of the essence of life. It sums up emotion, it holds the feeling of movement thereby implying the continuity of life. It shows some aspect of humanity, the way that the person who looks at the picture will at once recognize as startlingly true”
~ Bert Hardy

Bert left school at 14 years old to work for a chemist who also processed photographs. He was completely self-taught and used a Leica early on which was really unconventional for press photographers of that era. He was the star photographer for the magazine “Picture Post”, the UK equivalent of “Life Magazine”. This, one of his most tender images, it will be included in our upcoming gallery exhibition.

Bernard Plossu
Marseille, 1975
© 2023 Bernard Plossu / Courtesy of Peter Fetterman Gallery

“My camera is like the arrow. Do I reach the target or does the target reach me or is it the same thing? It’s all very emotional.”
~ Bernard Plossu

Bernard is a quiet, dedicated serious artist of the “old school” but totally relevant today in his supreme craftsmanship and choice of subject matter. He lives and breathes photography without any ego and has devoted his life to it. His sense of composition is beautiful. What for many would go unnoticed here is a serene, lyrical vista imbued with so much emotion. Tranquility and peace exemplified in a exquisite analogue silver print.

George Zimbel
Woman at the Bar, Bourbon Street, New Orleans , 1955 (Printed 2008)
© 2023 George Zimbel / Courtesy of Peter Fetterman Gallery

“My work begins with recording an image, but it is not finished until I have made a fine print. That is my photograph. A lot goes into a finished documentary photograph, a very personal view of life, a knowledge of technique and of course information. It is the information that grabs the viewer but it is the photographers’s art that holds them.”
~ George Zimbel

It is a bar in New Orleans in the 1950’s. What is great about this image is that there are several layers of storytelling going on in a single frame and George creates a great period mood piece.

But it is the story of the woman at the bar that holds us and with his customary sense of empathy George allows us into her world and life. I find it deeply moving in the way I find Edward Hopper’s paintings deeply moving. We don’t and never will know her complete story but we are there with her, which makes the image so powerful. It’s a punch to the heart.

Elliott Erwitt
Paris, Arc de Triomphe, 1956
© 2023 Elliott Erwitt/Magnum Photos / Courtesy of Peter Fetterman Gallery

“In life’s saddest winter moments, when you’ve been under a cloud for weeks, suddenly a glimpse of something wonderful can change the whole complexion of things, your entire feeling.The kind of photography I like to do, capturing the moment, it is very much like that break in the clouds. In a flash, a wonderful picture seems to come out of nowhere”
~ Elliott Erwitt

Walking along the Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe is something many of us, in fact millions of us, have done so many times. Nothing much seems to happen when I’ve done it.

But in the hands of a master, magic suddenly appears out of the blue and Elliott creates an image that just glows with feeling and emotion.

André Kertész
Pont Marie at night, PARIS, 1963

© Andre Kertesz / Courtesy of Peter Fetterman Gallery

“Everybody can look but they don’t necessarily see”
~ André Kertész (1894-1985)

André embraced Paris as a Hungarian emigre and Paris embraced him back. It was a relationship of mutual respect and passion. The city nurtured his unique poetic vision and his technical prowess allowed him to capture its beauty especially at night as is evidenced here in this rare signed print. The Pont Marie is a bridge which crosses the Seine. It links the Ile Saint -Louis to the Quai de L’Hotel de Ville and is one of three bridges designed to allow traffic to flow between the Ile Saint Louis and the Left and Right banks of Paris. I had the great fortune to walk it after Paris Photo two weeks ago. I am still floating.

Peter Fetterman Gallery
2525 Michigan Ave, #A1
Santa Monica, CA 90404
http://www.peterfetterman.com

The Power of Photography is now a book published by ACC ART Books.

Peter Fetterman : The Power of Photography
ACC ART Books
Pages: 256 pages
Size: 7.87 in x 9.06 in
ISBN: 9781788841221
$45.00

https://www.accartbooks.com/us/book/the-power-of-photography/
www.accartbooks.com