December 6, 2018

Website Recommendations for the Art of Photography

The PC era may feel increasingly distant — and in a non-serious culture dominated by amusement to death and the cult of popularity, that’s certainly true. But we always need a touch of beauty, and photographic art makes for a wonderful source of aesthetic nourishment.

The camera was invented a mere 179 years ago. In less than two centuries, a fair number of obsessive, brilliant minds have pressed the shutter and bequeathed us enduring masterpieces. We seem perennially nostalgic for bygone eras — the age of film, the age of metal, the age of darkroom catharsis and rooms thick with the smell of chemical baths. The digital, technological, internet era, by contrast, is dismissed as fast food: shallow and disposable. Even the legendary Magnum Photos agency has, in recent years, drifted ever closer to fashion and commerce. Still, there’s an upside. For serious photographers, the creative competition has intensified. And that, over the long run, will push humanity’s aesthetic sensibility toward a more balanced and compassionate place.

So, with the modest goal of enriching your browsing life, here are a few websites that thrived during the PC era but have since grown a bit quiet — blogs, official outlets, doesn’t matter. They are the tiny windows through which I observe the photography world and the visual universe beyond. Peek through one and you just might see the whole picture; let the appreciation ripple outward into a coherent pursuit of beauty and aesthetic judgment in daily life.