insights into photography
burn is an evolving journal
for emerging photographers.
burn is curated by
magnum photographer
david alan harvey.
We publish new stories or singles at least two times per week
Is it worth a visit and perhaps a subscription, I think it might just be but go and have a look for yourself here
© Alisa Resnik
This is what the editor says about Burn
burn was launched as an online magazine/journal on December 21, 2008 and is a spinoff of my blog “Road Trips” which I started in December of 2006. The intent then and now is to provide a platform for emerging photographers both online and in print. This comes from a lifetime of mentoring photographers. I started teaching photographic workshops a year after I took one myself at the Universtiy of Missouri Workshop. I was a student at 21 and was teaching at 22.
My whole philosophy of teaching and mentoring is based on the theory that I will be of most value to emerging photographers because I am very much a working photographer. I am constantly creating books for myself, planning exhibitions, printing for collectors, proposing and shooting magazine assignments, and do the occasional advertising shoot. Because of this NOW experience , it is quite easy for me to relate to the world of younger photographers who may benefit from my editing and expertise, yet know full well that I struggle with the environs of a fickle publishing world as do they.
burn is not a finished product. burn will not be the same tomorrow as it is today. Evolution and revolution are my keywords for living the photographic life. In an ever fast changing world for photographers and writers, my goal here is to be at the forefront of change and to provide an outlet for emerging photographers, and perhaps established photographers as well. So many speak of tough times ahead. I see opportunity. In my career lifetime, I have never seen so much opportunity.
burn is born from an educational imperative and to bring strong photographic essays and powerful text to not only photographers, but to anyone fascinated by a visual and literary interpretation of our complex planet. Your interpretations may be either journalistic in nature or esoteric subjective pieces. I hold all artists in high regard. With me as editor/curator you need never think “what does he want or like?” I will push you to do your thing, not mine…
We will do something very special right here on burn. A collaboration between thee and me. Adventure. Always exploring new territory. With YOU as the authors.
Authors of your own destiny.
Stay tuned…
David Alan Harvey
This is a really great post on the Eric Kim site
35 Magnum photographers, surely the greatest photographers agency ever, give pithy and insightful advice on being a photographer. This sort of advice should be bottled and sold, so that like water you can have it with you all the time. I have chosen just a couple of photographers to highlight and recommend you go and look at the rest. If you care about photography, if you want to be a better photographer then read this
What advice would you give young photographers?
Try everything. Photojournalism, fashion, portraiture, nudes, whatever. You won’t know what kind of photographer you are until you try it. During one summer vacation (in college) I worked for a born-again tabletop photographer. All day long we’d photograph socks and listen to Christian radio. That summer I learned I was neither a studio photographer nor a born-again Christian. Another year I worked for a small suburban newspaper chain and was surprised to learn that I enjoyed assignment photography. Fun is important. You should like the process and the subject. If you are bored or unhappy with your subject it will show up in the pictures. If in your heart of hearts you want to take pictures of kitties, take pictures of kitties.
What advice would you give young photographers?
1) Never think photography is easy. It’s like poetry in that it’s easy enough to make a few rhymes, but that’s not a good poem.
2) Study photography, see what people have achieved, but learn from it, don’t try photographically to be one of those people
3) Photograph things you really care about, things that really interest you, not things you feel you ought to do.
4) Photograph them in the way you feel is right, not they way you think you ought to
5) Be open to criticism, it can be really helpful, but stick to you core values
6) Study and theory is useful but you learn most by doing. Take photographs, lots of them, be depressed by them, take more, hone your skills and get out there in the world and interact.
Chris Steele-Perkins’ Magnum Portfolio
What advice would you give young photographers?
You must have something to “say”. You must be brutally honest with yourself about this. Think about history , politics, science, literature, music, film, and anthropology. What affects does one discipline have over another? What makes “man” tick? Today , with everyone being able to easily make technically perfect photographs with a cell phone, you need to be an “author”. It is all about authorship, authorship and authorship. Many young photographers come to me and tell me their motivation for being a photographer is to “travel the world” or to “make a name” for themselves. Wrong answers in my opinion. Those are collateral incidentals or perhaps even the disadvantages of being a photographer. Without having tangible ideas , thoughts, feelings, and something almost “literary” to contribute to “the discussion”, today’s photographer will become lost in the sea of mediocrity. Photography is now clearly a language. As with any language, knowing how to spell and write a gramatically correct “sentence” is , of course, necessary. But, more importantly, today’s emerging photographers now must be “visual wordsmiths” with either a clear didactic or an esoteric imperitive. Be a poet, not a technical “writer”. Perhaps more simply put, find a heartfelt personal project. Give yourself the “assignment” you might dream someone would give you. Please remember, you and only you will control your destiny. Believe it, know it, say it.
David Alan Harvey’s Magnum Portfolio
Oxford School of Photography 