1 December 2009

A few years ago we attended a photography lecture by National Geographic photographer Sam Abell at the University of Kentucky. I remember being quite amazed and inspired by this man, his ability to yield powerful stories through photography, and his simplicity and calmness. To this very day I consider his advice every time I pick up a camera.

Here following is what I learned from him (quoted from a 2008 article in the Minneapolis-St Paul StarTribune):

Abell lives in Charlottesville, Va., but he travels the country to teach professional and student workshops, as well as “photo camps” for inner-city children. At all of them, he passes on many of the things he learned about picture-taking from his father, a teacher and freelance photographer, while growing up in northern Ohio.

Dad’s biggest lesson?

“A form of patience that distills itself into three words: ‘Compose and wait,’ ” Abell said. “[It means] as a photographer to be out in life and to have a scene select you, sort of speak to you, and to dwell on it and to compose it carefully, and then to wait until the scene is fulfilled by something — something arrives, something departs, things happen in front of you.

“I’ve made a lifelong habit of doing that, and it’s the most characteristic thing about my methodology, how I arrive at pictures.”

Photo above: Sam Abell’s book, The Photographic Life, and my dog who decided to stand in the frame.