Highlights from the PhotoPlus expo in NYC
There were hundreds of new and interesting things to see at the PhotoPlus expo in NYC. A couple jumped out at me as interesting and important to the aspiring and accomplished photographers who visit this site.
I was especially impressed by a book, entitled, Night and Low-Light Photography, by Jill Waterman, which: “looks at the work of 30 top professionals, examining their real-life projects as well as their tips, techniques, and unique approaches to night and low-light photography.”
In college, I was guided by an equally fascinating book, simply titled, Darkroom, from Lustrum press. Darkroom Two soon followed. The most impressive thing was how that book showed me the actual darkroom processes (in great detail) of various master photographers. The overarching lesson was that the eight different photographers who were profiled had eight different strategies and that no single one was best. Jill Waterman’s book has insights from an amazing 30 photographers, proving again that there is no one-way to do things in photography. This is an especially important lesson for aspiring photographers who often look to teachers to tell them “the way” when in fact there are many ways.
I was reintroduced to PDNedu, a great resource from the folks at Photo District News. Some parts of the site are subscription based, but plenty of great (and free) information can be found by starting at: www.pdnonline.com/pdn/pdnedu/index.jsp. They have a page listing contests, events, legal resources, etc. Like much in the photography world, it can be rather “New-York-centric,” but it has some useful information too.