Kalyan Varma (http://kalyanvarma.net) asked me to give a talk at one of his famed photography workshops on the question of the frame in photography. This is that talk. The narrative of the portraits was only spoken, and not described on the slides to not take away from the emotion of them.

1. Therearenorulesforgoodphotographs
thereareonlygoodphotographs
AnselAdams

2. theframethehumane
&

3. the world is an assault

4. distill
essence
focus
rebel

5. “To quote out of context
is the essence of
the photographer's craft.”
John Szarowski

6. the familiar unfamiliar in the familiar

7. the form/content tug

9. “Without play, there would
be no Picasso”
Paul Rand in “Paul Rand : The Play Instinct”

10. it is at the limit that magic is witnessed

11. objects exist in the world
the frame changes the world

12. the frame changes the world
the light describes the world

13. "All art forms ... are escapist in that
each answers some fundamental
objection to the world and its limits"
Gabriel Winslow-Yost in “Purpose-Driven Life”
http://nplusonemag.com/purpose-driven-life

14. “It is one thing to photograph people. It is another to make others care about them by revealing the core of their humanness.”
Paul Strand