An interesting article to come upon after my recent musings about changes in photography and the photography I do. Paul Graham describes what his working process is like and what he is showing you, as well as what he sees.
“Why is everyone addicted to prepackaged spectacular moments, as if that’s all that’s worth photographing?” Mr. Graham said. “There is so much more to the flow of life all around us that isn’t revolving around perfect page-one moments.”
I am intrigued by both the physical processes described and the creative process described in the article, including how he describes his periods of apparent distractions.
Like those of most photographers today, Mr. Graham’s computer is a virtual studio. Pictures can be enlarged, minimized and moved around on the screen, which was not possible looking at exposures in a linear fashion during the long epoch of the contact sheet.
He is hands-on at every stage, including the wall-size exhibition prints he makes during several weeklong stints throughout the year. He has access to a wide-format printer for his own printing — up to 64 inches to 80 inches — but emphasizes that his images are not altered or manipulated; what you see is what he photographed.
