“You know when I saw that latest work you were doing I thought you have totally gone off the deep end.” This statement was made to me after I showed this work for the first time during my talk at Photo Plus Expo in New York. The person who made this comment to me is a legend and someone I really respect as a photographer. Once we spoke further about this work he explained that he realized there was a method to my madness and understood where I was attempting to go with this work. It was a great moment for me, not because I need praise, but more specifically because I think this exercise, or doing things like I’m doing here, is critical…
Breathing the Photographic Dream with Daniel Milnor
Posts from the “645 format” Category
So I’ve got a few workshops coming up. Two of these workshops are about travel, storytelling and books. The third is about making documentary portraits. So, I’ve been thinking. I look at a lot of portfolios. A lot. And I look at a lot of books. Many of the books I look at are created by consumers. In many ways I think pros and consumers are all striving for the same thing, and if you reduce this down to one simple idea I would classify it as “The need to tell a story.” The longer you do this you more you learn about not only how to tell the story but you also learn what your audience needs to fully understand what it is…
Tagged: ©daniel milnor, hawaii, north shore, oahu, portraits, sense of place, smogranch, surf culture, surfing
I have an upcoming workshop regarding “Documentary Portraiture.” Based on a few comments I thought it might be a good idea to show a few images and talk a little bit about portraiture, and more importantly the idea of what a portrait really is. I’ve thrown in a few standard portraits here, but the project I’m primarily featuring, “Paradise, America” is a long-term story I started a few years ago. There are twelve towns in America named “Paradise,” in twelve different states, and I thought it would be interesting to have a look at what it was like to live in one of these towns. I made my way to five of the twelve locations before realizing I wasn’t entirely happen with how I…
Categories: 35mm, 645 format, 6x6, analog, black and white, documenatary, photographer, photographs, portraits, workshop
I just might be the photographic antichrist. Earlier today I was searching through seven years of images, all of the same kid, in preparation for a book I’m making. I’ve got eight hard drives sitting in front of me, and during this process I stumbled across a variety of older images that prompted me to reflect. Maybe not such a good idea…… The images were everything from documentary snaps, weddings snaps and portraits. Just like everything else in my digital life, folder names, image titles, all changed over the years as I learned “better” ways of conducting myself in the electronic world. So, certain folders were filled with surprises, both good and bad, and I heard myself say more than once “Wow, I forgot…
Categories: 35mm, 645 format, 6x6, 6x9, analog, black and white, color, digital, kids, kids books, Kids Portraits
I never met Andy Irons, but as you can see I was around him on numerous occasions. Most of these occasions were during the Triple Crown of Surfing, the year end conclusion of the surf world’s grand tour, held on Oahu’s North Shore. I met a lot of surfers over the years, and most were very interesting individuals. The surf world suffers from as heavy a stereotype as any I’ve encountered, some of these stereotypes were accurate, but as I learned over the years, many are not. In terms of athletic talent, I would rank these men and women with any other sport. And while surfing lacks the violence of contact sports or fighting sports, the sea provides an all too real knockout punch…
Tagged: andy irons, ©daniel milnor, champion, hawaii, north shore, smogranch, surf, surfing