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Photos to Inspire: Sam Abell
By Lynne Eodice | Photos to Inspire |
Nov 20, 2008
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| Courtesy of Sam Abell |
Sam Abell is a National Geographic
photographer who has captured original perspectives on landscapes,
street scenes and the daily life around him over the past few decades.
His new book, The Life of a Photograph, contains some of his favorite pictures, and the side-by-side images reveal some of his photographic processes.
Initially,
Sam Abell became interested in taking pictures because it was his
father’s hobby. “I associated photography with the happiest time of my
life,” he says. “We went on 3- or 4-week summer vacation trips as a
family, and these excursions had a cultural and historic theme.” They
visited National Parks and learned about history throughout the U.S.
during the 1950s. “My family believed strongly in learning through
travel, and about experiencing life as directly as we could.”
Photography was always a major part of this experience.
“I think
I absorbed the connection between photography and travel, photography
and learning—and photography and good times,” he explains. On one
photographic outing, Abell’s father took him to a remote part of
Toledo, Ohio, where the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus was
unloading train cars with elephants, roustabouts, and circus
performers. “My dad used to love to go backstage in life. Anybody could
go to the circus, but I was the only kid who saw the circus being set
up.”
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| Cover of "Life of a Photograph" © National Geographic |
A Life in Images
When
asked about his photographic influences, Abell was quick to reply—“It
was a woman photographer from California named Dorothea Lange.” As a
student, he discovered one of her books at a bookstore in Lexington,
Kentucky in 1965. “It was a small book that fit easily in my hand,” he
recalls, and he carried the book across the school campus. “By the time
I had crossed the campus, my life had been changed.” He found that the
book contained sublime and very involving photography, and secondly,
that her images strongly implied her lifestyle. “The life that she
lived was evident in her photographs,” he remembers. For Abell, this
confirmed that it was the life he wanted, as well as a life that led to
a book. “She was deceased by the time I read it, and she never knew
that her book had an extensive and influential life.” This impact
eventually led to Abell’s own current book, The Life of a Photograph.
He
describes his photographic style simply as “straightforward,” and
strives to have his camera, lens and technique be invisible. “I publish
all of my images full-frame with white space around them. They do not
bleed to the edge of the page, and I tolerate no cropping. This is
photography’s true test—to simply show the viewer what I saw, nothing
more, nothing less.” Abell incorporates both information and visual
layers into his photographs. He composes intensely, and portrays
multiple meanings and thoughts in his work. “My goal is to have the
viewer become involved,” he remarks. He shows the image as he sees it,
doesn’t use filters, and never does image editing.
Becoming a Pro
How did he become a National Geographic
photographer? “I was the editor and photographer of our college
yearbook at the University of Kentucky,” he explains. “In my junior
year, I read an article in Popular Photography about National Geographic.
A small mention was made about their legendary Director of Photography,
Robert E. Gilka, and one line stated that they were looking for people
for their summer intern program.” Abell was one of three students who
became a summer intern at Geographic in
1967, which he found to be a great thrill and challenge to live up to.
“I wanted to live this life, had always wanted to work for National Geographic, and I never let up on that aspiration.” During that time, he also maintained careers as teacher, author and photo artist.
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| "Toronto, Canada" by Sam Abell © 2008 National Geographic |
He spent a lot of time in the field for Geographic,
and between the years of 1970–1990, never heard the word, “budget,”
either in terms of time or money. He says, “The goal was always to
bring back original and compelling photographs.” In 1970, he became a
contract photographer, and in 1990, he signed on as a staff
photographer. Today, he works for Geographic
as an independent photographer. As he has dedicated himself in recent
years to designing, writing, and publishing, Abell works primarily in Geographic’s book division. He is currently a consultant for a book called American Family by Ann Spaulding.
When
asked about his favorite images and assignments throughout the years,
Abell says that his favorite photographs have been thematic in nature.
“These images transcend assignments,” he notes. The Life of a Photograph
portrays these themes and features pairings of images that tell a
story. “My intent was not to have a book of ‘greatest hits,’” Abell
says, “but the two views presented throughout the book allows the
reader to join me in the field.” It’s about the photographic process as
well as the results. The book also takes the reader into the editor’s
chair as well, he points out. In addition to Life of a Photograph,
Abell has done three other books as an author and photographer—Stay This Moment, Seeing Gardens, and The Photographic Life.
Currently,
he’s photographing and editing a book on the subject of America. “Years
ago, the Assistant Curator of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art
was not impressed with my career decision to go to Geographic,” Abell
remarks. This man gave him a book of Walker Evans images, entitled American Photographs.
“He said, ‘maybe someday you’ll come to your senses.’” Abell looked at
the book, but didn’t agree that he was on the wrong track with Geographic.
Nonetheless, he says, “I want someday to do a book that’s an answer to
this one,” and adds that the American visual and cultural landscape is
the most layered landscape in the world. In Abell’s own images, he
often reveals multiple layers of time, culture and history, and shows
time past through contemporary eyes.
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| "National Hotel, Moscow" by Sam Abell © 2008 National Geographic |
Relating to the Photographer
As
for his future plans, Abell will produce a four-volume series of
fine-art books published by Radius Books in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The
first of these will be available in Fall 2009. “My high school
journalism teacher, Fred Marlow, sat me down my last day of school. I
had been editor and photographer for the school newspaper and the
yearbook editor. He was a very influential man, and set forth a goal
that sometime in my life I would do a book in its entirety. By that, he
meant to design, write and photograph it.” Abell has worked very hard
to do just that, and is currently devoting himself to projects that
allow him to do all three.
“Photography is a form of
thought,” says Abell. “What I want the viewer of the book to think is
not, ‘good shot,’ but ‘interesting thought.’ I want people to engage
with me not only as a technician, but as a person.”
Inside Sam Abell’s Camera Bag:
• Two Canon SLR camera bodies
• 28mm lens on one, 90mm lens on the other
• Gitzo medium-weight tripod
To order a copy of The Life of a Photograph, go to www.ngs.org
or to www.amazon.com.
See an interview with Sam Abell at: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2008/10/legendary-geographic-photograp.html
Let us know if you found this article useful, and tell us what kinds of articles you'd like to see in upcoming issues. Send your comments and ideas to the editor.
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Last Updated: Aug 11th, 2010 - 13:36:44
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Photos to Inspire: Additional Articles
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