Taking or Making

In photographing landscapes, places, and found environments, perhaps the difference between making and taking lives in the focal length, where a 35mm takes, and a 50mm makes.

I’ll line up my shot with the 50mm — a process in which I’ll layer foregrounds over backgrounds and sometimes forget what I’m looking at. The 50mm gives me have a deliberate process for assembling images. Because I have this process, it feels like I’m making something with a distinctive finger print. I have my method that was born in working with an 8x10 view camera and a normal 300mm lens — paired with a 4:5 aspect ratio..

The 35mm is a different image type and with separate aims. Here, it’s really about dealing with one specific thing at a time, and in my opinion, doesn’t layer or compress forms as nicely as the 50mm. The 35mm creates a discussion centered around subject and meaning, great for storytelling and building trust between viewers and subject matter — a true reporter’s interment.