Featured
The Art of Seeing: A Photographer’s Journey Beyond Looking
Looking is basic, Seeing is the key to better imaging.
The image above is of the piles of dirt delivered for the base of my home in the desert. It has been a tremendously frustrating experience so far, and I wanted this pile of dirt to remind me of at least a little progress. All photographs on this page are by the author.
I have been a photographer for most of my adult life. Starting with a Kodak Brownie in my early teens, I eventually got a ‘real’ camera and my love of the medium grew exponentially.
The first darkroom was shared with my dad, the next one was in the second bedroom of my first house. I took photos incessantly, in all kinds of weather and at all times of day.
Of any and everything.
I just wanted to see what my camera was framing as a photograph.
And I sucked a lot.
Boring, drab, and far too clumsily made photos were in stacks all over my little condo.
I would try to emulate someone I saw in a magazine.
A Jay Meisel weekend roadtrip.
A constant hunt for source material to emulate Uelsmann.
A model shoot to make photos like Bert Stern.
All failures, all disappointments, but — looking back — I see where they were leading me.
I was looking at Stern’s photos, but I wasn’t seeing what he saw.
I was trying to emulate Uelsmann on a superficial level, but his work was not superficial.
I was looking at the world.
My heroes were seeing the world.
In fact, they were seeing the world like a camera, as a photographer must do.
I can remember when the looking turned to seeing. It was exhilarating, and yet totally uncomfortable as well.
I felt like I had entered somewhere different from where I was, somewhere with more depth, more range, and more control.
And it changed my relationship to photography in an instant.
Well, OK, it took a couple of years to figure it out, but at 75, that seems like an instant. Ya know?
Look, there’s a profound difference between looking at the world and truly seeing it through a photographer’s eye.
While everyone with a camera can look at a scene through the finder, the ability to SEE the scene takes practice, attention to detail, and the process we wrongly call pre-visualization.
This is because visualization already means the ability to see the final image before it is taken. To add the term “pre” is not needed. It is redundant.
But… we all use it anyway — probably out of habit.
The Daily Act of Looking
Our eyes constantly scan our surroundings, processing vast amounts of visual information just to navigate our daily lives.
We notice the traffic light turning red, see the coffee cup on our desk, and observe people passing by.
But this casual observation, while sufficient for daily life, rarely leads to compelling photographs.
The image above was what I saw through my iPhone (a little contrast added). I knew it wasn’t going to be my final image because it didn’t reflect back to me what I saw — it was only what I was looking at.
I knew I wanted to feature the way the Aspens nearly glowed against the dark green pines. I knew I wanted it to be in black and white so I could feature the contrast and design of the image without the dead green color of the trees under a dark, grey sky.
I also knew that in order to get the composition right, I had to frame it a bit wider than I would normally have. In this final shot, the image looks like I saw it in my head.
When Looking Transforms into Seeing
The magic will happen when we shift from passive observation (looking) to active seeing.
A photographer who has developed this skill notices how late afternoon light creates long shadows across a brick wall, how a reflection in a puddle mirrors the city above, or how a simple shift in perspective can turn ordinary architecture into abstract geometry.
In the image above, I loved the color palette, and the very soft, but flat, light. This allowed me show off the symmetry of the wall with the more free-form shape of the rock. The sudden appearance of the Aspen trees gave the image a bit of punch.
(Processed to look like an old photograph — the very thing I saw instantly when I viewed the scene.)
The Technical Foundation
Seeing photographically requires understanding how our tools shape the final image.
Lens choice can fundamentally alter spatial relationships.
Aperture is one component of exposure, but even more, it shapes the story through depth of field.
A wide angle can include more context and depth, a long telephoto can flatten the subject and create a more ‘graphic’ look.
And a normal lens (35mm, 50mm, 85mm) renders the world in a more natural appearance.
The one you choose makes a distinct difference on the image, of course, but do you see that distinction before you choose a lens?
Yes. You should.
Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
The true test of photographic vision comes when facing seemingly uninteresting scenes.
While taking River out for a walk at dawn, I noticed the light coming down the wash. River sat patiently while I made the shot with a wide angle lens.
The post-processing was visualized to make her look a bit more menacing and to add a feeling of mystery to a very mundane image of my walking buddy. I saw this image before I got the iPhone out of my pocket.
Good doggy.
A photographer can find compelling images in a simple street corner, an empty parking lot, or a plain brick wall.
If you think about light, pattern, structure, the frame, composition, and post-processing choices, an interesting photo can be made almost anywhere.
I believe there are photographs in front of us all the time. We do not see them because we are busy looking at the world with other intentions than photographing it.
We will never see what we do not look for. Or worse, believe it isn’t there.
The soft, flat light that dappled between clouds was perfect for this whimsical photo of a whimsical place. I framed the lemons between the Aspens and let the colorful wall and graphics become the focal point. I knew that the truncated Aspens would look more jarring as they were nearer the camera.
(Processed to look like an old photograph. Muted colors, and the frame add a special feel to the image that makes me smile.)
Developing Your Eye
I believe seeing photographically is a skill that can be developed through conscious practice. You train yourself to see like a camera, crop in your mind’s eye, and see the finished image before you even take the lens cap off.
Of course, you can change your mind later, and do something different with it. We always allow for creativity and whimsy.
it is a ritual for me when leaving town and going north through Payson, to spend a moment having a drink of water and enjoying the change of temperature. In the summer, this is the first part of the journey that drops the temps from the low 100s to the high 80s. A welcome respite after an hour and a half riding out of the valley.I wanted the feeling of expanse, and to show the context of my baby with the road and texture. I knew just what this shot would look like when I made it.
It’s an Ongoing Journey
The transformation from looking to seeing has never been a destination. It’s a continuous journey. And each time we pick up our camera, we have the opportunity to see the world anew.
The more we practice actively seeing instead of passively looking, the more photographic possibilities reveal themselves.
In even the most familiar, or mundane places.
The Truly Practical Application
Remember that great photographs often hide in plain sight. They are there, occasionally mocking us for our apparent inattentiveness, but we cannot see them.
Because we are either not open to seeing them, believe they do not exist there or are simply passively looking without engaging the photographer's capture-muscle.
HINT: having a camera with you, and reminding yourself that there is ALWAYS a photo to be made can help neutralize the situation and make the photos we didn't see stop laughing their asses off.
In the end, the difference between a snapshot and a photograph often lies not in the scene itself, but in how we see it.
(All images from an iPhone 13 Max.)
Hi, I’m Don Giannatti, a photographer and mentor for up-and-coming photographers. You can find me on my website, Don Giannatti, and at my Substack site, where I also publish for creative people.