Natural Framing
Learning to be on the lookout for beautiful things is a way of contesting the relentlessly rationalistic view of the world that surrounds us. Just as we produce thoughts by talking things over, we produce memories by composing them and reflecting. By taking lots of photos you may come to find more things you cherish.
Simon Sarris • On the Usefulness of Photography
Pictorialism, with a small “p” always has been an essential element in the best photographs throughout the medium’s history. And it is still true. It acknowledges that photography is a PICTURE-making process. Pictures are very good at emphasizing feeling; they are very bad at conveying ideas. Ideas need words. If the words or ideas already exist, t
... See moreBill Jay • LensWork #83 (The Bill Jay's Best of EndNotes issue)
It is an appearance, or a set of appearances, which has been detached from the place and time in which it first made its appearance and preserved – for a few moments or a few centuries. Every image embodies a way of seeing. Even a photograph. For photographs are not, as is often assumed, a mechanical record. Every time we look at a photograph, we a
... See moreJohn Berger • Ways of Seeing
Searching for a good photo in the every-day of life teaches us to notice our surroundings more.
simonsarris.substack.com • On the Usefulness of Photography

There are two things that make a great photograph: content (what's in the frame) and form (how it is composed). You need a perfect marriage of these two elements to make a compelling image.
Eric Kim • 82 Lessons From the Masters of Street Photography
“A camera is a device for learning how to see without a camera.” —Dorothea Lange
simonsarris.substack.com • On the Usefulness of Photography
Ideas related to this collection