One of the things that I most believe in is the compose and wait philosophy of photography. Itโs a very satisfying, almost spiritual way to photograph. Life isn'tโ knocking you around, life isn't controlling you. You have picked your place, youโve picked your scene, youโve picked your light, youโve done all the decision making and you are waiting for the moment to come to you.
Sam AbellIn the last workshop I taught, a woman flew in from Thailand. She's a medical doctor in Bangkok. I asked her in her one-on-one session where she wanted photography to be in her life.Did she want a second career? Was it about earning money? Or was it art? And she said "None of those. I want photography to be serious in my life." It would be like someone wanting music, like piano playing, to be a richer, deeper, and maybe even harder experience.
Sam AbellThere isn't an aspect of book creation I don't enjoy, and there has always been a book in my life to dream about or work on.
Sam AbellThe class that I teach is called "The Life of a Photograph." It takes up the question, of the billion photographs that were taken today, how many will have a life, and why? So the new reality has made the question more pertinent, not less pertinent.
Sam AbellMy parents, grandmother and brother were teachers. My mother taught Latin and French and was the school librarian. My father taught geography and a popular class called Family Living, the precursor to Sociology, which he eventually taught. My grandmother was a beloved one-room school teacher at Knob School, near Sonora in Larue County, Ky.
Sam Abell