He's a neat kid and expressed an interest in photography over Christmas when I found him sitting at the kitchen table poring over the B&H Catalog. We got to talking about cameras and on Boxing Day he took his Christmas, birthday and newspaper money and went to Best Buy and bought an Olympus Ultra-Zoom, much to his parents surprise.
I think we both got a lot out of the two days shooting. I found that I had to articulate (and defend) ideas and concepts that I knew at a gut level but until then I had never really given voice to. If you're ever in a rut photographically, take a young person out who has shown an interest in the craft and share your knowledge. I found myself revitalized.
Anyway, this kid has the gift, IMO. At the age of 14 he's making images like this:
(c) 2013 Devon Wieliczko
And like this:
(c) 2013 Devon Wieliczko
The above images came about after we talked about trying to capture what makes an old truck and old truck, or as I explained to him, "the essence of Truckness". I think he nailed it.
I struggled a bit for most of the two days, but I did find my groove a couple of times and I came up with these:
 |
| ADM Flour Mill and Trailers |
 |
| Loungers: Bow River Viewpoint |
 |
| Waiting at the Analog Cafe |
Take the time some day to do this. You'll find that you'll learn more about photographs than you'll learn in any online forum. You'll also learn about yourself and the young person you are with. It's an insightful exercise.
Your nephew has the best mentor a young photographer could ask for.
ReplyDelete