Dan the Man
© Dan Winters
There is a great interview with Dan Winters over on APE. I was fortunate enough to study with Mr. Winters in 2004. He is a continual inspiration as an artist, and as an amazingly cool, confident guy.
It's hard to believe that the above image of Denzel Washington is almost 20 years old. And hard to believe that it was his first shoot for Kathy Ryan at the NYT Magazine. He stepped up to the plate as a rookie and hit a grand slam.
The interview is loaded with all sorts of juicy, valuable insight into the life of a photographer. A few of my favorite thoughts from Mr. W:
"I never am nervous about getting held back. I feel like when you're a pro, you know when you got it and you have the skill to get it. And so, I just thought it through. I joke sometimes about how,"shoots are just a formality." You come up with this idea and you work it out in your head, and the execution of it is the formality. And that one [DW, above], I worked it out in my head.
And this little nugget, which has taken me some getting used to, but certainly makes life easier once you embrace it:
"I think there is a misconception, especially that students have and I really make a point when I speak at schools to talk about the fact that you never really arrive. You are always working towards something but you never stop. I think there is this crazy idea that you get somewhere and then everything is cool."
Amen!
