Five Tips on How to Help Yourself Compose a Formal Everyday Photograph

Although photography is a predominantly subjective form of art, it is always important to keep a few things in mind when out shooting. 

1. Camera always all ready to go with a few extra rolls of film in your pocket
2. Good light (or ready to make it yourself with a flash) 
3. Awareness of the weather
4. You might not strike gold
5. Keep an open mind

Although these tips might seem obvious, shooting the everyday is more more different than setting up a studio, walking into it, and closing off the rest of the world. That said, you never know what your day will bring, so it is always important to have your camera within reach if you think it’s possible you will be able to slow down for a second or two and snap a photograph. I can count too many times that I’ve regretted being without my camera. And, believe me, the moments that I could’ve shot become more and more remarkable in my head as I continue to dwell on them. 

That said, it’s hard to take your remarkable photo when it’s dark outside or the sun is too harsh. However, this tip is more contingent on how ambitious you are about taking photos, since the magic of photography is that it can happen anytime, anywhere. Curious about shooting in the dark? Find a flash, or even a tripod. Want to shoot when the sun is highest in the sky? Be ready to hide your lens from annoying sun glares, which leads into the third tip: (basically) always have an umbrella with you. Shooting in the rain can be a magical experience, or a camera-breaking experience. It’s up to you.

Next, welcome the fact that you might not strike gold when you try to seek it out. The moments will come to you. Conversely, however, keep an open mind, as there is truly no way to find out what something looks like in a photograph unless you go for it and take the shot. 

A Short Guide to Everyday Photographers

Below you will find a short ten person list of prominent everyday photographers who were all born in the twentieth century. Not only has the work of these photographers set the stage for now-emerging photographers, but they were inspired by earlier works by those from the century before. 

• Stephen Shore (1947-)
• William Eggleston (1939-)
• Henry Wessel (1942-2018)
• Garry Winogrand (1928-1984)
• Joel Sternfeld (1944-)
• Robert Adams (1937-)
• Robert Frank (1924-)
• Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)
• Lee Friedlander (1934-)
• Walker Evans (1903-1975)

Although the subject lines of the work of these photographers varies, it all comes back to the main idea of capturing the mundane everyday in predominantly the 35mm film medium. Thus, what's remarkable about this fact is that they all do so in wildly different styles. While Shore has traveled across America capturing the quintessential "everyday" look of life, one of Winogrand's most famous works is The Animals, where he took a critical view of how humans function in zoos. In a similar vein, Friedlander's The American Monument chronicles his visiting of everyday monuments across the United States, giving us a refreshing look about what exactly we deem as monument-deserving. 

While Winogrand and Friedlander selected very specific subjects to study, others were much more concentrated in their practices. For instance, Robert Adams' The New West specifically studies the shifting landscape of the West. Wessel's work pairs quite nicely with Adams', as Wessel largely concentrated on mundane scenes of the West, yet in a more intimate way. It is easy to suggest that Adams was greatly influenced by the work of Evans, who documented America during the Great Depression, commissioned by the Farm Security Administration. Both Cartier-Bresson and Sternfeld captured the everyday on intimate levels, mainly interacting with the subjects in their work. 

What makes these photographers' work so special is the fact that you can look at their work backwards and forwards a million times, but you see things differently each time you do so. Engaging with these photographers' work together allows the viewer to create a more intimate relationship with the outside world, as it becomes far more intriguing after looking at the work that has been created by these photographers. 

Welcome to The Everyday

Hello there, and welcome to The Everyday, a blog that concentrates on everyday photography. If you don't know much about the photography world, welcome, because I am sure you've unknowingly experimented with some form of everyday photography yourself. This realm of photography is about stepping back from what the majority might deem as "photo-worthy" - a sunset, Times Square, perhaps your "Instagram-worthy" brunch - and taking a deeper look into the everyday, finding art in the ordinary.

This blog will take a look at those who tend to take the slower route of photography by shooting with a film camera, in order to share artists who work with the medium, independent publishers dedicated to spreading our work, and maybe some of my personal insight into photography itself.

Here's to sitting back and looking at (and reading about) photographs!