Sam Abell Explores Photography and Life

Last week I had the great pleasure of speaking with the photographer Sam Abell. A few weeks prior, I did a brief review of Sam Abell’s new book, The Life of a Photographer – Sam Abell, published by National Geographic. Sam has been taking pictures for National Geographic for some time. I was very impressed with his book and pleased to have a review copy. My appreciation for the book and for his work is greatly enhanced by having the opportunity to speak directly with Sam.

I began our discussion by saying that I was struck by the dual nature of many of the photographs I see in National Geographic and especially the photographs in Sam’s book. When you first look at them they appear to be great illustrations of the concept in the article. Then when you look more closely, many are great works of art with close attention to composition. So I asked Sam about his thought process as he created the images in his book.

Sam said he attempts to make pictures that last. Many of the images in his book are from the 60s. 70s, and 80s. To achieve this goal he pays great attention to structure and design more than content. He does not ignore the content but it is not the major focus, unlike most amateur photos. Sam said that when he teaches photography, the first thing he focuses on with his students is the setting. He has them go out and take pictures of settings or backgrounds without a content focus.

Sam said he works from back to front instead of front to back. He goes after the setting first. This is based on his father’s idea to find a composition and then wait for the scene to unfold. Sam said that this philosophy also influences his life. He looks at settings and then he determines how best he can fit in. I mentioned that this was also the approach Henri Cartier-Bresson took with his photography. He looked for a stage and waited for the actors to fill it. Sam said that Cartier-Bresson was a big inspiration to him.

Sam went on to expand on this theme. He said that each photographer’s stage is different. Cartier-Bresson’s stage is complex and European. I think it is also often circular. Sam said he looks for a flat stage and strong horizon lines. This is influenced by his childhood in Northwest Ohio, one of the flatest places in this country. Many of his pictures are both strongly centered and contain a distant horizon. I was looking at his two views of a movie theater in Jordan Montana as we spoke. The design elements he mentioned were strong. The theater is center and flatness is evident. Even in the close up of the movie poster on the wall there is a strong horizontal line where the wood separates that bisects the close up and this line lies behind the poster. This horizonal sense can also be created in an interior shot such as the Plaza Boot store in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Here the horizontal shelf serves as the grounding point.

Sam took me to one of his favorite shots to further illustrate the points about composition. In the book he often contrasts two pictures of the same scene, like the movie theater in Jordan Montana I mentioned earlier. In this case, it is calf branding on Montana. On one side he shows a view of the complete scene. Sam said that he usually takes an overview of a scene as he approaches it. Then he decides on the focus. In this case it was both the horizon and a particular cowboy. The detail shot makes this cowboy the central figure but keeps the horizon in view. Both the top and bottom of the picture make for interesting compositions in their own right and the same holds for the left and right side of the photo. There are multiple layers and focal points but they do not fight with each other. The primary figure leads, then the other figures and interest points act as the supporting cast. This provides an increased sense of depth.

Sam said that as a kid his family had one of those stereo picture viewers and over 500 sets of photos for the viewer. He was inspired by this to create a sense of depth in his photos. We went into more detail about his experiences with his father and how they influenced him. When Sam was very young, his father took the family on many trips. He would always bring the camera and record the events in a non-intrusive manner. Sam always associated the camera with pleasant experiences. They went to the circus, watched trains and went to boxing matches. His father was a high school geography teacher who promoted a curiousity about the world. He felt that a large part of education was getting out and experiencing the world. When Sam was 12, his father started a camera club at the high school and Sam helped him in the dark room.

Sam said they subscribed to Photography Magazine, Life Magazine, and he also wore out the Family of Man photo book that I remember well. At age 15 he entered a national photo context and got honorable mention. Sam was the editor of his high school yearbook and took many of the pictures. This inspired him to want to get into publishing, as well as photography. He said that as a photographer you do not get paid a lot but you get your work out for others to see. Sam has also been able to explore the world through his photo work.

Sam sees photography as a way to be in life and better experience it. You can be better tuned to the flow of life and see the light, the atmosphere, and the cultural movement. You can be richly there and appreciate it. Sam wrote and produced this book to share his experience and to provide a teaching platform.

We spoke briefly about the power of blogs and other social media. Sam mentioned a YouTube video covering an interview he did, Photographer Sam Abell talks about Richard Prince that over 4,000 people have seen. It will be the topic of another post. I was really moved by my conversation with Sam and highly recommend the book. It is not only a beautiful work of art, but also a great education for any photographer. I already know it will change the way I take pictures.

Comments

[Lana]

Awesome post--thanks for all of that info! I've often coveted Mr. Abell's job (although, by the same token, I'm sure I wouldn't have the stamina or guts to take some of the photos he has.) Cool that you got a review copy!

[bill Ives]

Lana

Thanks. I was especially interested in how his father influenced him and how his life and art and interwoven. Bill