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LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process

Brooks Jensen 8 Episodes Oct 13, 2026

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process offers short 2-4 minute talks on the creative process in fine art photography. Host Brooks Jensen, publisher of the award-winning LensWork magazine, shares observations from his 35 years as a photographer, writer, and publisher. Topics range from finding subject matter to presenting work and building an audience, avoiding techno-talk and artspeak. The podcast aims to stimulate ideas and experience for photographers and art enthusiasts.

Episodes

HT2773 - Twelve For Six Oct 13, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2773 with Brooks Jensen Twelve For Six I continue to have all kinds of fun doing Seeing In SIXES projects. I've been doing them long enough now that I'm starting to see certain patterns emerge that help the process. For example, when I try to produce a Seeing In SIXES project I'd better have more than six candidates to choose from. I don't need a hundred, but the editing/select

HT2772 - That Special Travel Feeling Oct 12, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2772 with Brooks Jensen That Special Travel Feeling Why is it that travel seems to precipitate a heighten sense of excitement to photograph that is missing from our home or daily routines? Is it simply that we are trying "to take it all in" while traveling? If so, can we purposely develop that "take it all in" attitude at will? At home? After all, a visitor from some distant la

HT2771 - Your Work and Ansel Adams Oct 11, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2771 with Brooks Jensen Your Work and Ansel Adams I've said for a long time now that the most influential attribute of a work of art is the signature of the artist. That is, a very bad Ansel Adams print will be more valuable than our best. Of course, the mental trap in that thought is the equating of fame/value and merit. I would unhesitatingly say that many of your photographs

HT2770 - Yes, Seagulls Oct 10, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2770 with Brooks Jensen Yes, Seagulls There are some subject clichés that are so cliché they become uber clichés. I would be willing to bet that every one of you have a photograph of a seagull in your archives that you've never shown to anyone because, well, it's a picture of a seagull. Does that mean seagulls are overtly non-photogenic? Or does it mean that they are inherently

HT2769 - My Favorite Dead Fish Picture Oct 9, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2769 with Brooks Jensen My Favorite Dead Fish Picture One of my favorite pictures from 50 years of photography was photographed in a rural village in Japan. Outside the fish market was a little stand that included 60 or 70 herring splayed out to dry. There's shiny bodies were fantastic and led to one of my all-time favorite photographs. I have it hanging in the trailer. I'm abo

HT2768 - Clouds and No Clouds Oct 8, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2768 with Brooks Jensen Clouds and No Clouds Looking through our archives at all our previous work can uncover some of the most interesting things we might never see otherwise. A while back I had a revelation about clouds. It seems that for unknown and unconscious reasons, when there are beautiful puffy clouds in the sky casting intermittent shadows and sunbeams on the land, I

HT2767 - Performative Photography Oct 7, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2767 with Brooks Jensen Performative Photography I don't think many people would think of photography as a performative art medium. Could it be? What would that look like? The closest thing I can imagine to a performative presentation of photographs would maybe be a slideshow. What about a presentation of images on a large screen TV that could possibly be accompanied by a narra

HT2766 - From Whence the Inspiration Oct 6, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2766 with Brooks Jensen From Whence the Inspiration There are photographers who prefer not to view the work of other photographers. I understand the concept, but I can't help but wonder what they are missing? Do they also not listen to music, read novels or poetry? Watch films or talk with others? I've always thought of art as a Grand Conversation, a conversation that spans tim

HT2765 - Way to Go, God Oct 5, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2765 with Brooks Jensen Way to Go, God When does a scene/subject become worthy of making a photograph? After all, we don't just point our cameras at anything, but we pick and choose those scenes or subjects that we think are worthy of capture and processing. Why are those captures worthy? I've asked this question for years in workshops and conversations. The most common reason

HT2764 - Archive or Burden Oct 4, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2764 with Brooks Jensen Archive or Burden We spend our life amassing a pile of prints that form our archive. It can also be said that our archive is a burden that our heirs will be responsible for whether or not they want it. We can't take it with us, unless the software engineers figure out a solution to this pesky problem of mortality. Maybe we should be buried with all our a

HT2763 - Visual Syncopation Oct 3, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2763 with Brooks Jensen Visual Syncopation Structure in a presentation of images can be both good and bad. Structure can provide form and consistency to a presentation. It can also become predictable, repetitious, and boring. This where visual syncopation can come to the rescue. Become a member of LensWork Online and have access to all 2700+ Here's a Thought… commentaries.

HT2762 - Understanding Fatigue and Exhaustion Oct 2, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2762 with Brooks Jensen Understanding Fatigue and Exhaustion There are times when I try to go photographing in spite of feeling exhausted. It never works. This week is one of those times. I just can't bring myself to get excited about grabbing my camera and getting out there. Worse, I feel guilty about it. As I've thought about this in the torpor of my fatigue, I think I've had

HT2761 - The Immersive Challenge Oct 1, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2761 with Brooks Jensen The Immersive Challenge We all have art we love and art that leaves us cold. In thinking about my own responses to artwork, I've come to the conclusion that the artwork I like the most are those pieces that create in me the largest immersive response by pulling me into the world that the artwork makes for us. This is, for example, where the novelist has

HT2760 - The Cynic in Me Sep 30, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2760 with Brooks Jensen The Cynic in Me This is the best time in the history of photography to be a photographer. That said, the cynic in me can't help but worry about the future of photography as an art medium. Because it has become so easy to make a technical stunning photograph, I wonder if the mystery in the craft has disappeared? If it's easy and everyone can do it well, i

HT2759 - Not ETTR, but ZJSOTR Sep 29, 2026 2:43 Here's a Thought… #2759 with Brooks Jensen Not ETTR, but ZJSOTR I'm sure you have all heard the advice, "Expose to the Right." In theory, that's well-founded reasoning and advice. In practice, I've found ETTR a bit impractical and prefer a more pragmatic strategy ZJSOTR — Zebras Just Short of the Right. This is even more true here in the age of AI Noise Reduction of our RAW files. Become a member

LW1524 - Photography as an Art Medium Sep 28, 2026 Episode #1524 from our long-running, weekly podcast On Photography and the Creative Process Photography as an Art Medium Of late, I've experienced a number of well-meaning friends who insist on showing me what and where I should photograph. I know their heart is in the right place, but I also know that they do not understand the creative process. That's too harsh. They do not understand my creati

LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process

Episodes

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