“It's a little bit like talking about the life of writing. The life of writing may be about many things, but it always begins with the writer. With the kernel of an idea, or a character, or an idea or a theme, or even an outcome. But for documentary photographers, photographs begin at that intersection of the real world and the imaginative inner world.” WorldWritingMayLittlesIdeasRealCharacterBitsTalkingLittle BitPhotographerPhotographOutcomesThemeReal WorldDocumentariesImaginativeInner WorldIntersectionsKernel 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
“I did a story for the Geographic on Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and Stephen Ambrose was the writer. He said, "I've got the easiest job in the world. I just have to re-tell the story of the greatest fishing, camping, hunting, canoeing trip of all time. You, Sam, have the hardest job, which is, pretend like nothing has happened in the last 200 years.” WorldYearsSaidStoriesJobsLastsHappenedHardestAll TimeFishingHuntingCampingHardest JobCanoeing Author:Sam Abell
“For spiritual companions I have had the many artists who have relied on nature to help shape their imagination. And their most elaborate equipment was a deep reverence for the world through which they passed. Photographers share something with these artists. We seek only to see and to describe with our own voices, and, though we are seldom heard as soloists, we cannot photograph the world in any other way.” WorldWayHelpingSpiritualArtistVoiceImaginationHeardShareShapesPhotographyPhotographerPhotographCompanionReverenceEquipment Author:Sam Abell
“A mad, keen photographer needs to get out into the world and work and make mistakes.” WorldNeedsMistakePhotographyMadPhotographerMaking Mistakes Author:Sam Abell
“How the visual world appears is important to me. I'm always aware of the light. I'm always aware of what I would call the 'deep composition.' Photography in the field is a process of creation, of thought and technique. But ultimately, it's an act of imaginatively seeing from within yourself.” WorldImportantLightProcessSeeingCreationFieldsPhotographyPhotographerTechniqueVisualsComposition Author:Sam Abell
