“What I really love is transformative photography…Transformative photography is photography that changes you as a person, that asks questions (instead of answering them). You’re not the same person any longer after you’ve looked at it – and given the nature of this experience, it usually cannot be depleted (even though it might become weaker with time).”

And while Mr. Colberg is not opposed to the “occasional visual tickle,” his answer gives new context to some of his prior blog discussions on photography.

“For example, when I’m talking about how I prefer the message over the medium (and not the other way around), that’s why. There is no transformative power in the medium itself (even though the visual impression created by some photographic processes – think daguerreotypes – can be stunning).”

Think back to every episode when you’ve seen a body of work that completely transformed your own thought process or even style of photography. For me, that was absorbing the work of Sam Abell and Alex Webb for the very first time. Johnathan Newton of the Washington Post showed me Sam Abell at the Mountain Workshops, and Matthew Ratajczak showed me Alex Webb over a break in the The Stuart News newsroom. Within a span of minutes on those two separate occasions my photography style and direction was irrevocably altered.  It’s impossible to disagree with Mr. Colberg when he says the “experience of coming across a new body of transformative photography is exhilarating and indescribable.”

Read the rest on Mr. Colberg’s blog Conscientious.

There’s a certain essence of raw finesse in Rebecca Rijsdijk’s collection, Plant People, on display at I Heart Photograph and her website portfolio. It seems in an industry deluged with heavy post-production and complex setups, Rebecca’s photographs have a staggeringly simple attention to form, content, and lighting. Her collection concept “my branches are not what they used to be” has a strong, symbolic, and personal feel represented in the images of intertwined humanity and nature. It seems as if Rebecca peeled away the layers of complexity and broke it down into the simplest denominator. It gives a certain child-like joy to browse these photographs. They may not speak to everyone directly, but they encapsulate that simple art of photographic study that we all practice. Imagine a shoot with no predetermined concepts, no meetings, no art direction, no editors — just you, your subject, your concept, your camera, and your lust to make tangible an idea that sprang forth from the creative well — that’s what I see analyzing this collection. If it’s the beauty and sophistication of simple photography that allures you, then check out more of Rebecca’s work on her website, and be sure to take an extra long contemplative work at her other collection, stiletto paradoxes.

Rebecca Rijsdijk’s Plant People, photographs copyright Rebecca Rijsdijk, used with permission.

Freshly painted parking lot, photograph copyright Erik M. Lunsford

Chris Bentley
Rona Chang
Daniel Farnum
Elizabeth Fleming
Lee Gainer
Matthew Genitempo
Inka Lindergård & Niclas Holmström
Natascha Libbert
Bradley Peters
Carlo Van De Roer
Daniel Shea
Manuel Vazquez
Jens Windolf
Susan Worsham
Bahar Yurukoglu

While you’re there take a look at the work of Mike Osborne from his work in China and Taiwan. I love the empirical and painterly quality of his images. Plus, a prize for the first person who finds the image on his website made in my hometown. Email me at senditmyway[at]eriklunsford[dot]com when you find it.

Beijing 2007, photograph copyright Mike Osborne

Art installation, Philip Slein Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri

Foreclosed house, South St. Louis, Missouri.