Photography Is an Act of Discovery: Follow the Light

What’s poppin’, people? It’s Dante.

Currently walking around this random alleyway here in Old City Philadelphia, and today I just wanted to share some thoughts about light and photography and how it’s completely transformed the way that I engage with life and my practice.

Right now, looking at this artificial source of light, I’m going to photograph these little doorbells.

Looking up at the beautiful blue sky, I see some reflected light upon that brick wall, some shadows that are cast with the harsh light.

And, you know, light ultimately is out of my control.

I find that to be a really powerful way to think about this thing because, ultimately, when I’m photographing something, I’m not necessarily interested in photographing and depicting life as a fact or as something that I’m so sure of.

Right now, I’m looking at the reflected light through this window and the way that it’s abstracting the buildings from behind.

And I’m finding that by chipping away at life and light, by photographing, I can discover new things.

Photography, for me, is an act of discovery.

Recognizing the fact that light is out of my control is empowering.

Photography Is a Physical Act

The only thing I’m in control of as a photographer is where I position my physical body in relationship to the subject, the background, and my instincts to click the shutter.

Photography is a physical act of you moving through the world.

I’m not in control of the weather conditions.

I’m not in control of the light.

I’m not in control of the people that I find.

When photographing, we wield the camera. The camera is our tool.

We have two eyes that are connected to our brain that allow us to see and perceive things, to contemplate, to think, and to rationalize a compositional decision.

But it’s the camera, it’s the lens, the apparatus that we’re photographing with, that’s interpreting light and life through the way the light emanates through the camera’s lens, touches the sensor, and renders the image.

And so this is my long way of explaining the fact that we have the ability to see something, to recognize something, to frame something by moving our body.

But it’s ultimately the camera that’s interpreting life in front of me.

It’s ultimately the camera that’s creating the image and interpreting life and light.

Discover What the Camera Sees

Using this sort of mindset shift—from photographing something as a matter of fact to treating the act of photographing as a way of discovering what the camera sees and how the camera is interpreting everything—has completely transformed the way that I think about photography.

Now, when I’m simply walking and wandering through these streets, I’m curious about how light and life will render upon my camera sensor.

I’m not interested in the way that I can find something interesting or make a photographic story or look for a character or a gesture or something to elevate my photograph.

I’m allowing my curiosity around the way that the camera is interpreting reality to guide me.

You can put me on any street, at any place, at any given time in the world, and I will infinitely find something to photograph because I’m very much aware of the simple fact that light is out of my control.

And what’s out of my control intrigues me.

The unknown as a photographer intrigues me.

The act of photographing is an act of chipping away at life and discovering something.

It’s not a way for me to conquer and say, this is what I want, and this is how I see the world.

It’s actually a way of me unlearning everything and discovering things each day, treating the act of making pictures as experimentation and tinkering, almost like a mad scientist.

Follow the Light

When photographing a surface, I’m really just curious about how the camera is going to interpret that surface, how the camera is going to interpret the way the light casts upon the world.

I’m not dependent on the subject itself.

I’m not dependent on the content itself.

The subject that I chase and what I’m curious about is light.

And so I simply follow the light, and I allow that to guide me and my photography.

Simplify the Process

The simplest technical thing that I can share with you that’s allowing me to achieve this shift in the way that I see the world has been adopting a simplified and streamlined workflow.

I’m shooting with the Ricoh.

I’m shooting with automatic settings.

I’m shooting with a small JPEG that has high contrast cranked to the max, baked into the camera.

There is no post-processing.

There is no tinkering with my camera settings.

All I’m left to do is respond to what’s in front of me.

By photographing this way, by giving myself this creative constraint and stripping away color and honing in on light and shadow in black and white, I see the world anew each day.

I see it from this fresh perspective each morning, like I’m just born again each day.

And I think this is such a powerful place to be because then I tap into the flow state of simply photographing everything.

I’m curious about the way that light and shadow are casting upon this brick wall and the ways in which the nuances and the details of what I’m photographing go beyond what my naked eye sees.

Seeing What the World Could Be

When I’m going to photograph something, of course I’m looking and recognizing that thing for what it is.

But when I’m photographing something and I reveal the image later on my iPad, I’m seeing what the world could be through the way the camera is interpreting reality.

And essentially, that has completely transformed the way that I think about everything in my life and photography generally.

I find that I can infinitely thrive in the mundane.

No matter how seemingly banal or boring things may be, I know that there are infinite possibilities because of the way the light casts upon the world and gives shape and form to everything around me.

You can’t make the same photograph twice.

You can infinitely return to photography each day by stripping down bare to the essence of the medium itself, which is light.