10/10/2024
photographer with many accolades.c Here is a smidgen of info and photos that will make you reach for more.
His philosophy
Compose and Wait
This impromptu video of starlings flying in formation (called a 'murmuration') illustrates my father's injunction to 'compose and wait.' I was 14 years old at the time he enjoined me to 'wait.' What he meant was to settle on a committed composition and wait for a subject to appear and animate the scene. That is easy enough to remember when little is happening. It's harder to remember when there is the dramatic appearance of a subject. Such appearances give one every reason to chase the subject instead of waiting for it to complete the established composition. In this situation I resisted the strong temptation to chase the starlings.
https://samabell.com/mediapress
I recommend you have a cuppa and relax by the lake and cruise through this website
https://samabell.com/seeing-gardens
worked for National Geographic as a contract and staff photographer for thirty-three years.
In 2024, I received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Photo Society, and was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame
From Richard Bernabe Newsletter
Legendary National Geographic Photographer on Building an Image, Micro Composition, Optical Vibration, and Staying Power
Website: https://tinyurl.com/yykrrpaw
Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/3pbx2f62
Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/hx5b28tw
Sam Abell is one of America’s most influential and celebrated documentary photographers, best known for his rich, expressive, color photo-essays for National Geographic magazine where he made images for more than 30 years.
Known as the ‘Quiet Photographer” Sam Abell has defined his career with patience, deliberation, and making carefully crafted imagery. In addition to his work with National Geographic, he’s also published many books over his career, including The Life of a Photograph, Stay This Moment: The Photographs of Sam Abell, and Sam Abell : The Photographic Life.
A few things I learned from Sam: Micro Composition, Optical Vibration, and the value of capturing everyday, ordinary things.
Toward the end of our conversation (around the 53 minute mark), he uses the play, Our Town to make a point about humble images about ordinary, everyday things and settings. He describes an image he made of his dad, his all-time favorite photograph. We were both practically in tears.
We also talk about some of his more iconic images and how they were made:
Image: Tolstoy’s Pears
Image: Hagi Tomoe Window
Image: Dog and Dolphin in Ireland
Image: Branding and Castration
Episode 72. Sam Abell: Legendary National Geographic Photographer on Building an Image, Micro Composition, Optical Vibration, and Staying Power September 29, 2024 Sam Abell is one of America’s most influential and celebrated documentary photographers, best known for his rich, expressive, color ph...
