Behind the Lens with Rick Smolan

During the month of October, Atlanta Celebrates Photography (ACP) for the tenth consecutive year.  ACP is an organization and city-wide photography festival comprised of more than 100 exhibitions and events inspiring discussion and showcasing work of photographers from around the world.  ACP's mission is simple: to create an international city for photography in Atlanta. It feels good to be here.

This past weekend, I attended an ACP10 lecture hosted by Brooks Jensen, photographer and editor of fine art photography publication, LensWork. In his lecture, Jensen suggests that "Photography is not about light. Photography is about life." He encouraged us to first identify what we want to say with our images and then be open to share our stories with audiences in the form of not only still images, but audio and video. And with the recent launch of video-capture SLRs such as the Nikon D90 and the Canon 5D Mark II, my sisters, our images have the power to be still... or move if we choose. He suggests that photographers are not only image creators, we are oral historians and storytellers. 

My friend, Rick Smolan, came to mind as I listened to Jensen's perspective on photography.  Rick began his career as a photojournalist for Time, LIFE and National Geographic. His curious nature and love of life lead him to create From Alice to Ocean (book and CD-Rom) in the early 1990s, the photo/journal documentary of a woman's journey across Australian... on camel back.  From that point on, Rick began to orchestrate massive visual storytelling projects involving teams of photojournalists and amateur photographers from all over the world to document and share stories about life in print book and digital form including the Day in the Life... series, Passage to Vietnam, Power to Heal, 24 Hours in Cyberspace, America 24/7 and most recently America at Home. I caught up with Rick recently and recorded our conversation to share with you.  I was curious to trace his path as a photographer.  To discover and share the secret of his success so I might follow in his footsteps. Was the secret revealed? Yes, from my perspective. But tell me what you think.

Listen online or download Behind the Lens with Rick Smolan – a thirty-minute deep dive.

Rick was kind to offer all of us a 25% discount (that's $10.00 off) his latest book, America at Home, for a limited time. Simply visit American at Home, create a custom cover with your image of home, and enter promotion code: fall08

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The image above was captured by Rick Smolan and is shared with his permission. Ever since his children were toddlers, the first thing that Phoebe (7) and Jesse (5) Smolan do when they arrive at their grandfather's Long Island home is to climb into the painted school lockers to see how much they've grown since their last visit. A scrapbook kept by Grandpop Elliott Erwitt, a renowned photographer whose images appear on the walls of museums around the world, lets them chart their growth.

A Slice of Life

It rained that day. We loafed around the lake house waiting. Waiting for the sun. Waiting to ski. It was our last day.  This image sums it up for me.

I rarely shoot wide and I rarely shoot slice of life, when capturing the essence of the true story is even more important than the lighting and composition. It requires patience and at the same time, a quick impulse. I get a little fearful when I share moments like this because they feel so personal. It's a privilege to get close to people in their homes, and to share a few moments of their lives through honest eyes.

I had been soaking in Rick Smolan's newest book, America at Home, that weekend as seen in my lap above. I met Rick many years ago and instantly became a fan of his work and unique approach to visual storytelling through the eyes of photojournalists from all over the world. America at Home is an amazing collection of images and words that will broaden your view of America and expand your definition of the word "home." There's a great interview with Rick on BlogHer by ClizBiz about the story behind America at Home that you might enjoy, and if you really want to be wowed by the power of photojournalism, check out his TED Talk: A girl, a photograph, a homecoming.

Now let's see a slice of your life. Share a link to your image in the comments.

(And stay tuned for my interview with Rick about his life as a photojournalist.)

Lost and Found

All day I wandered through the house searching through little stacks of papers. Of all things, how could I have lost this? My friend had entrusted me with her most important picture--a snapshot of her with her two daughters taken on the day they said good-bye. She didn't know that it would be two years with only this shot to remind her of how hopeful they all were--and must continue to be until they are together again.

And now I have lost one of the only records of their last time together. Great.

"I'll scan it for you," I said. "That way we can keep it safe."

Safe. What was I thinking? In two short days I misplaced the picture and experienced a catastrophic hard drive failure. At least a thousand of my own photographs gone--poof!--never to be seen again. Searching the house, looking for my friend's photo--the key to her most important memories--I was reminded of what a critical role pictures play in telling our story, keeping our history. Without them, I start to lose the very things I vow always to remember. Without them, as in the case of my friend, we hold our children in our heart without knowing how they've grown or how they felt--the last time we said good-bye.

I'm thinking this is an occasion where sisterhood might really make a difference. Let's promise each other right now we'll scan those old photos (and memories) and that we'll back those babies up at least once a week. Leave your tips and tricks for keeping all your photos safe in the comments below along with links to the photo you must never lose.

Thanks to Flickr, I still have the originals of some of my most treasured moments. And thanks, to a flash of memory right before I sat down to type this post, I remembered that special "safe" place where I'd left my friend's photo. You better believe I'll be returning that picture first thing in the morning. I don't ever want to lose something so important ever again!

What do you say, Shutter Sisters? What's the plan to make sure we don't lose all the magic (and memories) we make with our cameras (and our dear ones) everyday? I know for certain, that here is one sister who desperately needs your help!