Light, Space, and Time

07Art and Artifice

The great jazz musician Miles Davis observed, “Sometimes, you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”

This is as true of photography as it is of music. You can be taught to use a camera, but not to use it your way. When you pick up a camera for the first time and say, “How do I make a photograph?” you can be taught how photographs are made, but not how you will make them. Miles Davis was being gentle; you always have to shoot for a long time to shoot like yourself. It is a discovery.

When you look at the work of the photographers you consider masters of their craft, you probably recognize their work ...