Remembering the Future — Part III: The Future is Shaped by the Present (cont.)

It seems to me that the most damaging restrictions on an artist’s liberty are self-imposed. So often, what may have begun as fresh thinking and discovery is turned into a routine and reduced to mere habit. Habits in thinking or technique are always stultifying in the long run. They are also contagious, and when a... Continue Reading →

On Tradition and Imitation

Those who feel guilty contemplating “betraying” the tradition they love by acknowledging their disapproval of elements within it should reflect on the fact that the very tradition to which they are so loyal . . . is in fact the evolved product of many adjustments firmly but delicately made by earlier lovers of the same... Continue Reading →

On Prisoners and Dilemmas

It’s always easier not to think for oneself. Find a nice safe hierarchy and settle in. Don’t make changes, don’t risk disapproval, don’t upset your syndics. It’s always easiest to let yourself be governed. There’s a point, around age twenty, when you have to choose whether to be like everybody else the rest of your... Continue Reading →

The Traditions of Photography

This essay was adapted from one previously published in LensWork Magazine. On the road from fish, bird, and ape to the war-waging animal of our time, on the long road by which we hope in time to become men and gods, it could not have been the “normal” ones that had pressed forward from stage... Continue Reading →

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