I was in New York this month for a workshop with VII photographer Sara Terry.
The workshop was called Finding Your Visual Voice. Sara taught us to work from intuition and emotion — from our “thinking hearts” — as a way to learn to produce unique and intimate photographs. We attempted to let go of perfectionism and technical mastery, to feel our way into making pictures rather than think our way there.
Not too long ago I might have been confused by this concept, bound by my relentlessly literal and logical brain. I might have been emotionally unable to look inward, or to understand the value of doing so. But I’ve spent the past couple of years searching for my “written voice” — and, based on everything I’ve learned so far, I suspect that when I find it, it will be somewhere closer to my heart than to my brain. So I’m ready to embrace this method, and I’m glad to be practicing it early in my photography journey.
It was nice to be back in New York, to see old friends and old places. I’ve only been a couple of times since I left in 2011. I slipped easily into the rhythms of the city, remembering the speed at which to swipe my Metro card, remembering how to plant my feet and rock along with the swaying train. Everything was the same, and different. Now Long Island City is half-full of condos. Now electronic signs tell you when the next train is coming. Now the World Trade Center is built.
Here are some of my photos from my trip. I don’t know if they contain emotional depth — I doubt it — but I tried to make them from the heart, and that’s a step.
