If I really want to spend some time with an image to understand it, think about it, consider its implications and deeper message, I know going in that there is a limit to how many images I can connect with in a given sitting. Of course I can only speak with authority about my own experience. I know, from my Sunday morning book time, that I reach a limit at about a hundred images. More than that and my brain just locks up. Sometimes far fewer. I can scan quickly through more, but that always seems a bit of an insult to the artwork and the artist
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.
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HT2582 - Compositional Geometry
04/04/2026 | 2 mins.
HT2582 - Compositional Geometry
Consider one, two, or three. In geometry, one is a point, two is a line, three is a triangle. In photographic composition, one is a thing, two is relationship, and three is a movement. Which of these do you think makes a more interesting and dynamic viewing experience? Staring at a dot? Bouncing back and forth along the line? Or traveling in an almost circular movement?
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.
HT2580 - Sometimes a Picture Is Just a Picture, Sometimes Not
02/04/2026 | 2 mins.
HT2580 - Sometimes a Picture Is Just a Picture, Sometimes Not
In these Here's a Thought comments, I talk a lot about meaning and content and the philosophy behind photography. There is, however, a case to be made for just letting a picture be a picture. It's a matter of trying to find balance in the swinging pendulum between profundity and simple beauty. So much of photography is about capturing beauty and why not? If that's the only content of the photograph, image after image after image, one does eventually feel that the meal is all dessert and a taste of substance would be a welcome relief.
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HT2579 - Either Match Perfectly or Not At All
01/04/2026 | 2 mins.
HT2579 - Either Match Perfectly or Not At All
It has been pointed out to me over the years and by several people that I have zero fashion sense, particularly in my choice of clothing. Maureen compassionately laughed at me when I dressed up one time in khaki pants and a tan shirt that didn't match and then another time when they did and I looked like the ice cream man. Such lessons taught me a lot about depth of field in my photography.
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HT2578 - Ruthless Editing, Again
31/03/2026 | 2 mins.
HT2578 - Ruthless Editing, Again
Last weekend, more or less just for fun, I reviewed all 180 projects in my Kokoro series of PDFs. One of the conclusions from this review is that I need to do more ruthless editing. Far too often I felt that a project simply had too many images. My primary criteria for editing has always been to eliminate repetition, but I need to expand that and maybe set more rigid limits on how many images are included in a project. Breaking a project into smaller parts might be the key, like chapters in novels.
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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).
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