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What Moves You

Finding your own photo style is a journey, not a destination

This Article Features Photo Zoom

Participants at the 2008 Moab MUni Fest unicycle festival in Utah.

To what can we look to inspire our photographic style, and what are the benefits of knowing our photographic style? As photographers, we fly, drive or hike into the world’s farthest corners to be surrounded by beautiful landscapes or a constant whirl of exotic people and events. We place ourselves in these places for the rich opportunities for photos. For every photographer, whether he or she knows it or not, the moment or place that inspires a photo rarely is an accident. It’s our unique individual photo style created and guided by our personality that produces the more creative photos we make. Not just our choice of shooting in color or black-and-white, but every choice, from where we travel and the method of transportation to camera formats and even travel companions, are all personal choices that reflect a photographic style.

Strong photographic style is inextricably linked to the photographer’s personality. Master photographers have learned how to combine aspects of their personality with photographic technique to create a distinctive photographic style. It’s not a big stretch to figure out the personality of photographers Diane Arbus, Steven Meisel or Richard Avedon by looking at their photography. In 1970, Richard Avedon said, “If a day goes by without my doing something related to photography, it’s as though I’ve neglected something essential to my existence, as though I had forgotten to wake up. I know that the accident of my being a photographer has made my life possible.”

I can look at any of my earlier photos and describe the core reason that brought me to that particular place at that time to make the photo. When I was a new photographer, I didn’t understand that many facets of your personality are the motivations that help build your photographic style. On my early assignments, I was nervous that I’d step into an assignment and freeze. I had nightmares that, on the shoot, everyone would wait for me to make my move, and I wouldn’t have a single idea of what to photograph. As it turned out, my shoots always went well. I always thought the reason was because I organize my shoots well. On the surface, that was true.

Going a little deeper, my assignments are organized around a personal agenda, where I try to make each shoot a positive experience for myself and all involved. Some photographers might thrive creatively on adversity and intensity, but that doesn’t work for me. On my photo shoots, my assistants are friends and are part of my community. I’m careful to review the location of my next shoot and the people and activity in the location, since that interconnection is as important to me personally as it is to my photos. Early in my career, I developed a personal photo style and didn’t even know at the time that I had done so. After years of travel and photographing, I now understand that key aspects of my photographic style are centered around my personality.

Like many photographers, I look for inspiration in many things: travel to remote places; meeting photographers, artists and other exceptional people; viewing art and photography in galleries, magazines and books. All of these inspire, but a personal photographic style isn’t about going out one day and deciding to mimic landscapes like Gary Braasch or blast all your subjects with a ring light to make photos like Martin Parr. To emulate these techniques will make your photos a pale imitation of the masters, but with time, they could be the path to creating your own personal style.

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