The world is full of media that artists can use to express themselves. Music, storytelling, dance, sculpture, poetry, pottery, painting. Has it ever occurred to you how rare it is that a work of art can be held in your hands? I've always thought that this is one of the great strengths of photography. No other medium that I can think of has the potential to be so tactile. Maybe clothing, maybe food if we consider them an art medium, but these are special cases. Photography is the rare visual medium that is (or can be) so physically sensual. I'm not referring to books, but to original prints produced to be viewed handheld.
This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2600 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process.
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HT2631 - I Done Good
23/05/2026 | 2 mins.
HT2631 - I Done Good
I sincerely hope I am not self-deluded about this, but I often find that after some months or perhaps years I look back at older images and find them far better than I remembered. I'll kick myself for not recognizing the potential for an image that now seems so obvious. It's as though the passage of time imbues the image with surprising improvements. Or, maybe my subconscious has been working on the image all this time. What I originally passed by becomes an image I now celebrate. Why is this?
This RSS feed includes only the most recent seven Here's a Thought episodes. All of them — over 2500 and counting! — are available to members of LensWork Online. Try a 30-day membership for only $10 and discover the literally terabytes of content about photography and the creative process.
HT2630 - Why We Are Making the Complete LensWork Digital Back Issues Collection Available for Download
22/05/2026 | 2 mins.
HT2630 - Why We Are Making the Complete LensWork Digital Back Issues Collection Available for Download
We announced a few weeks ago that we have begun a long-term project to publish the entire content of the LensWork Print Editions as PDF digital back issues. We've already posted the first 23 back issues. We'll add two more back issues each Friday until we have them all completed. These downloadable digital back issues are available exclusively to current members of LensWork Online. Here's why we are publishing the entire back issues collection.
Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!
HT2629 - The Myth of Accurate Color Balance
21/05/2026 | 2 mins.
HT2629 - The Myth of Accurate Color Balance
Is there truly such as thing as correct color balance? What about differences in the way individuals see? What about light sources that effect how we see a print? Seems to me that accurate color balance is a myth. Instead, I prefer to think in terms of believable color balance, emotional color balance, or interpreted color balance — none of which are accurate but all of which might help create a more persuasive image.
Show your appreciation for our free weekly Podcast and our free daily Here's a Thought… with a donation Thanks!
HT2628 - Photography Is a Graphic Art
20/05/2026 | 2 mins.
HT2628 - Photography Is a Graphic Art
Are you familiar with that book, Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon? If so, you are familiar with the idea of borrowing (a more gentile word than stealing) ideas from other disciplines. For example, postal stamps. For example, Japanese picture books known as e-hon. For example, Audubon bird books, botanical catalogs, wanted posters, old time postcards, bookmarks, Tarot cards, or pub coasters. All of these graphic arts could be merged with photographic images to create artwork that goes beyond camera as recording machine.
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About LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process
About LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process
About LensWork - Photography and the Creative Process
Random Observations on Art, Photography, and the Creative Process. These talks focus on the creative process in fine art photography. LensWork editor Brooks Jensen side-steps techno-talk and artspeak to offer a stimulating mix of ideas, experience, and observations from his 50 years as a fine art photographer, writer, and publisher. Topics include a wide range of subjects from finding subject matter to presenting your work, and building an audience.
Included in this RSS Feed are the LensWork Podcasts — posted weekly, typically 10-20 minutes exploring a topic a bit more deeply — and our almost daily Here's a thought… audios (extracted from the videos.) Here's a thought… are snippets, fragments, morsels, and tidbits from Brooks' fertile (and sometimes swiss-cheesy) brain. Usually just a minute or two. Always about photography and the art life.
Brooks Jensen is the publisher of LensWork, one of the world's most respected and award-winning photography publications, known for its museum-book quality printing and luxurious design. LensWork has subscribers in over 73 countries. He is the author of 13 books on photography and the creative life -- the latest books are The Best of the LensWork Interviews (2016), Photography, Art, and Media (2016), and the four annual volumes of Seeing in SIXES (2016-2019).
New Zealand