Versace on Seeing

One of my favorite modern photographers is Vincent Versace. I love his fine art photography but, even more than the images themselves, I love his approach to photography. If you've had the chance to attend one of his classes or workshops, you know what I mean (and if not, do yourself a favor and go). He is the one photographer who's classes I make it a point to attend at every Photoshop World I go to. 

For Versace, it's not about technique, although he'd be the first to tell you that "perfect practice makes perfect." For Vincent, creating remarkable images that speak to something deeper is about "seeing" with that other eye we have. The eye we develop from careful observation, not by simply repeating a technique we've learned. To truly see and capture the essence of the scene in front of the lens and reveal its true essence, not just a documentary record of what we saw.

If this sounds at all interesting to you, and I hope it does, take some time to read and absorb an excerpt from his upcoming book, Return To Oz. You can find it here as a guest post on Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider.

To get a hint of what Versace is talking about:

"There is a revolution in photography happening. We are witnessing it now; the digital image for the first time allows anyone onto the pathway to creative greatness. A place where impossible is merely an opinion, an opinion that is held not by the viewer of the image but by the creator of that image. Which means that personal imagination is then the only limitation. It is important to not merely focus on technique for technique’s sake, but to discover what it means to see rather than merely look. It is in that direction that you will come full circle and find the voice within you that yearns to be heard and needs to be heard. Once you discover that technique is merely a detail—a consideration, nothing more—then in that moment the voice within you, the visual poet who fell in love with photography, will be free to create images that will change the world of those who view them."

The conversation is shifting...

Comments

[photoshop restoration and retouching]

Great stuff! Thanks!!

Regards,
retouching

[Tom Beans]

Thatnks RT. More to come real soon..