Steve McCurry is one of my favorite photographers, and I know I’m not the only one. There’s a ton of photographers out there that mimic his style, which may or may not be a good thing. I’ve seen so many photographers going out and collecting portrait images of men in turbans staring blankly into the lens of their camera, I call it McCurryism. I think many people in the arts feel the need to emulate the top people with-in their chosen medium. I know I do. But is that always being honest to yourself and to your own creativity? Part of what I love about photography is trying to show how I see the world through my own eyes, and I think if I am going out hunting down images that mimic other images then I am not being true to my own vision. I am not saying at all that pictures of men in turbans should not be taken unless you’re Steve McCurry. I guess what I am saying is that when I go out I sometimes struggle with taking photographs from the heart as opposed to what I have seen before. And are the two even separable, how can you ignore your influences? Maybe I want to capture photographs that gave me the same feeling as others I have seen and respect, not a carbon copy but an emotional one… This is where Steve’s photographs come in, they make me feel things, they make me want to go out and make my own, but I have to be careful I am taking photographs from an emotional standpoint as opposed to a visual one, at least that’s what I want to do.
