“The neatest part of this book I'm working on - to me - are the pictures that show the process... Because photographers... think things through and... it isn't luck, and it isn't random and it isn't accidental. It isn't.” ThinkingBookShowsProcessLuckPhotographer Author:Sam Abell
“I started teaching in '76 and I'd been a photographer at the Geographic for six years. But prior to being at the Geographic I was a teacher. Plus my parents were teachers and my brother and my grandparents. So it was the culture of our family to think about teaching, to talk about teaching, to talk about teachers.” ThinkingYearsCultureParentTeacherTeachingBrotherSixPhotographerOur FamilyMy BrotherPlusGrandparent Author:Sam Abell
“Typically I see it with photographers who go to a place like India or Nepal, and everything's so colorful and exotic and they think, therefore, a picture's been taken.” ThinkingTakenIndiaPhotographerExoticColorfulNepal Author:Sam Abell
“First of all, I appropriate photographs.In presenting the Richard Prince photograph I tried to be as neutral as I could be. I put down the fact of it. I wanted it to be the same thing he wanted it to be, an open ended invitation to think about authorship, and who owns a created work. So I pair it with my appropriated picture.” ThinkingFirstsFactsWantedPhotographAppropriatePairsInvitationsPresentingAuthorship Author:Sam Abell
“I think that it's workshops, honestly, that have kept me keen about photography, and about my photography. My career as a workshop photographer came while I was at the Geographic in the late 70's, and has continued consistently since then.” ThinkingCareersLatePhotographyPhotographerHonestlyConsistentlyWorkshops Author:Sam Abell
“For example, in my dorm, at the University of Kentucky, I had the only camera. I don't think anyone came to college with a camera, other than me.” ThinkingExampleCollegeCamerasUniversityKentuckyDorms Author:Sam Abell
“The thing with my workshops is, photography is a thoughtful process. In an atmosphere of fast photography, and generally thoughtless, quick, automatic photography, I think that there is an interest in the slowed down, thoughtful approach.” ThinkingProcessInterestApproachPhotographyAtmosphereThoughtfulWorkshops Author:Sam Abell
“I'm very involved in photographing America now, so I don't think of faraway places, as I did when I was young.” ThinkingAmericaYoungInvolvedFaraway Places Author:Sam Abell
“In my first class at the University of Kentucky, my American Literature professor came in, and the first sentence out of his mouth was "The central theme of American Literature is an attempt to reconcile what we've done to the New World." wrote that down in my notebook, and thought, "What is he talking about?" But that's what I think about now. The New World and what we've done to it.” ThinkingWorldFirstsDoneLiteratureTalkingClassMouthsUniversitySentencesThemeProfessorsNew WorldNotebookReconcileFirst ClassKentuckyAmerican Literature Author:Sam Abell
“And that desire-the strong desire to take pictures-is important. It borders on a need, based on a habit: the habit of seeing. Whether working or not, photographers are looking, seeing, and thinking about what they see, a habit that is both a pleasure and a problem, for we seldom capture in a single photograph the full expression of what we see and feel. It is the hope that we might express ourselves fully-and the evidence that other photographers have done so-that keep us taking pictures.” ThinkingNeedsFeelsImportantDoneProblemMightDesireStrongPleasureSeeingExpressionHabitPhotographyEvidencePhotographerPhotographBordersCaptureTaking PicturesStrong Desire Author:Sam Abell
“But there is more to a fine photograph than information. We are also seeking to present an image that arouses the curiosity of the viewer or that, best of all, provokes the viewer to think-to ask a question or simply to gaze in thoughtful wonder. We know that photographs inform people. We also know that photographs move people. The photograph that does both is the one we want to see and make. It is the kind of picture that makes you want to pick up your own camera again and go to work.” PeopleThinkingKnowsWantKindDoeMovingAsksWonderInformationFinePhotographyPicksCamerasCuriosityPhotographerPhotographSeekingThoughtfulProvokingViewers Author:Sam Abell
“I think of myself as a writer who photographs. Images, for me, can be considered poems, short stories or essays. And I've always thought the best place for my photographs was inside books of my own creation.” ThinkingBookStoriesMy OwnCreationPhotographerPhotographShort StoryEssaysBest Place Author:Sam Abell
