10 Photos 5 Questions #09
with Gary Regulski
This series at Two Photographers is open to all members and subscribers. We will ask each member the same set of 5 questions and ask them to choose 10 photos to highlight their work.
Our next member is Gary Regulski
GARY REGULSKI
1: WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK?
I only own a handful of photography books, the majority being How to or about music photography. My favourite is Rhythm & Light by Carrie Nuttall. Carrie was married to drummer Neil Peart (of Rush) and photographed him in the studio. The intimacy and depth she achieved are the qualities I wish my music photos had.
2: IF YOU COULD SIT DOWN FOR A DRINK AND A CHAT WITH ONE SINGLE PHOTOGRAPHER (LIVING OR DEAD) WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
Carrie Nuttall. While Carrie is not known as a music photographer, she was able to bring an ethereal depth to her photos of Neil Peart. Too often I feel my photos, music or otherwise, are too literal and only capture the reality in front of me without saying very much. I would like to talk to her about the process she used for this particular shoot. Not the technical aspects, but what was going through her head as the scenes unfolded in front of her eyes.
3: WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY?
I love that I have the ability to capture what I see in my head versus the reality in front of me. I hate that I am not very successful in doing so.
4: WHAT SINGLE THING DO YOU THINK WOULD IMPROVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY?
Going out and shooting more, even when I don’t have the desire to. I have a lot of varied interests besides photography and it will too often take a back seat, especially with the funk I am in now and struggles I have deciding what to shoot. The times where I have taken my camera with me, just to see what I can find, and not come back with a single shot, happens more than I care to admit.
5: WHAT IS YOUR WORST HABIT AS A PHOTOGRAPHER AND HOW DO YOU THINK YOU COULD IMPROVE IT?
Where to begin? Not taking enough time before deciding on a shot? Not shooting enough? Falling back on comfortable subjects, instead of pushing myself? Comparing myself to others?
Even with all of those, my worst habit is caring too much what people think about my work. The photographs are first and foremost, for me and it really shouldn’t matter how many “likes” I get or even if I get any positive comments. Dwelling on things like this just ends up with my camera equipment gathering dust.
Website: Gary Regulski
Some great, great pictures here, Gary, truly. But keep taking the bad ones too, or the ones that satisfy less, and don't worry that they're not ones that you like or wish to share. They're constantly making those good ones better and better.
I really like these pictures and what Gary writes about his relationship to photography. Perhaps we all know what he describes. May I add a quote from Ralph Gibson?
From Dorothea, I learned about the point of departure. I showed her some of my work, and she said I lacked a point of departure. For example, she said if I carried my camera on a trip to the drug store, I might stumble upon a photograph. If I wandered around on the streets, I might never make any good photographs because I had no point of departure. I never understood this idea until I was working on my book, The Somnambulist, about dreams. Then I knew what she meant. I was looking only for images to use in my book. The point of departure is the backbone of my career. It is essentially how the professional photographer on assignment works. If you are working on an annual report for Chevrolet, you don’t make pictures of Fords! Photographers without points of departure just have boxes of prints.
https://www.pfmagazine.net/2018/magazine/his-point-of-departure-a-conversation-with-ralph-gibson/