Tag: narrative

The Agra of Southern India (a video)

Here is a short video taking you with me as I explore Bijapur, India, a place that is often referred to as the Agra of Southern India, because of the important architectural heritage of this under-appreciated Indian city. Read More

Poets not painters

Why is it that so many photographers aspire to be painters (or at least want their work to look like paintings?) I never understood that since I never wanted to emulate painters. I always wanted my photographs to have the presumed veracity that we attribute to photographs. The fact that they are derived from reality is what makes them photographs. Over the decades that I have worked as a photographer (and the decades I have been hearing photographers long to be like painters) I have tried to come up with another creative persona for photographers to emulate, rather than painters. Read More

Foreclosed Dreams (the multi media piece)

Over the last three years I have been photographing inside foreclosed houses, right after the actual foreclosure and before they are cleaned up to be put back on the market. That is when I can photograph the “ghosts” of the families that used to be in those houses. While this project is based on the still photographs, I am also assembling an audio collage. Read More

Good storytelling is good storytelling

Last week I wrote about how I was going to stop blogging on a fixed schedule. That still holds true, but since writing that, I had one of those “aha” moments where I was prompted to think about something in great depth. All that thought and pondering shouldn’t go to waste and so here it is as a blog entry. Read More

Motion pictures vs stills

Like most people, I enjoy motion pictures (or movies.) Although I took a few classes in college on film history and film theory, I do not really know much about the media, other than what I like. Having said that, I have long had one eye on the movie business for a few reasons. First, there is a lot more money and acclaim for filmmakers as compared to still photographers. Secondly, I knew the explosion in digital imaging was going to inevitably change the movie industry, just like it changed the still image business. Recent events set me to thinking about all of this change and prompted me to try to hammer out a blog entry about movies vs. stills, from my purely personal perspective. Read More

A public radio interview with David H. Wells (a video)

In 1992, I was interviewed by Melinda Whiting for Artscape, a public radio arts and culture program in Philadelphia. Our discussion started with my Middle East work. It went on to explore the intersection between art and photojournalism. Though the interview is 18 years old, the questions it raises are still relevant. Read More

The early photo-essays of David H. Wells (a video)

This podcast explores the evolution of my photo-essays, including many of my grant-funded projects, including my work on the pesticide poisoning of farm-workers in California, the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, fishermen in Gloucester , MA as well as the communities of South Asian immigrants in America Read More