 Portfolio of
Sherman Bryce
View Artist Statement
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Gallery Direct Interview with SHERMAN BRYCE
Sherman Bryce is a visual artist who creates photographs of serenity and warmth celebrating the gifts nature offers when we take a moment to look around us. He hopes by sharing his vision he will awaken the calm and serene spirit that dwells in each of us when we allow ourselves to reconnect with nature.
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How, and at what age, were you introduced to photography?
My father introduced me to photography when I was about 9 years old, sharing stories about his time assisting my great-uncle in the darkroom. He brought home a Kodak brownie and some film which he said had to be opened in the dark only to see the pictures. I grabbed the camera and went out in front of the house and took some shots. Wanting to see the pictures right away, I decided that I’d go someplace dark. I slid under my parent’s bed. When I opened the camera and pulled out the film, there was nothing! Totally shocked and knowing I’d screwed up big time, I knew I was in big trouble. The magic of that little box camera, however, and what it could do was embedded. I was hooked.
By the time I was 11 I was spending most of my time at my uncle’s basement building out my train set with my cousin. My aunt was a photo enthusiast and had purchased a stainless steel darkroom and an Omega enlarger. I was mesmerized with all the tools, timers, meters, and books and spent almost as much time in the darkroom as I did with my train set. However, it was a “look but don’t touch” situation. Things fell into place in my high school years when my family moved to a new house whose previous owner was an amateur photographer. I walked into a house with a built in darkroom in the basement! I was surrounded by stacks of Popular Photography magazines, and shelves full of darkroom chemistry, trays and all the apparatus that I needed to develop my own pictures. It was not the high tech darkroom of my Aunt Dorothy, but it was right downstairs and not across town.
When did you realize that photography was an extension of your being and something you wanted to pursue as a career?
The whole process of developing images with chemistry and having a darkroom quickly became a part of my growing up into my adult life. I have always managed to have a darkroom wherever I lived after that. The idea of making a living as a photographer and pursuing it as a career was far and fleeting for the most part. Life’s more practical needs had to be addressed. Of course landing a gig working in television sports right out of college helped put photography on the back burner for awhile. I do think those experiences traveling the world and learning about life only helped me develop my approach to image making. It comes full circle. Photography gave me the opportunity to step through the doorway into the wonders of this planet and all the things around us in a very intimate and unique way. For me, that’s the draw.
Are you a self-taught photographer or did your formal education include photography in the curriculum?
I’m mostly self-taught around the still camera. I would spend hours at the photography bookstores around Manhattan in the mid 70’s. I got thrown out of the Witkin Gallery more than once hanging out for hours at a time and maybe looking a little too suspicious. I think my real education came working in video production for over two decades preparing for shoots and working on set across a number of PBS series as well as sports production early on. It was invaluable experience in dealing with the challenges a photographer faces in the field and the studio.
Do you feel that having an institutional education is more advantageous for an aspiring photographer and why do you feel this way?
That’s a hard question to answer either way. I think it really depends on each individual, their temperament and how they approach learning. Today digital has exploded the skill set needed by image makers, and some “old school” shooters really back up around it. You can’t ignore it though. The landscape has completely changed. There are a lot of quality educational institutions around where you can get a solid foundation in digital image making. However with the internet today and social networking exploding there are so many venues that you can explore to connect with like minded individuals. Prior to digital and the Internet, photographers tended to be very secretive about their process and techniques. Everyone was a competitor so you guarded your hard earned workflow closely. Today it’s just the opposite, with people learning from one another constantly. The whole idea is to share knowledge. Digital really had a hand in creating that approach.
Who or what has given you the most inspiration during career?
For me that’s a two part question. In my early career I was learning and trying to find my place in this visual soup. There were many photographers who influenced me and my sensibilities. I loved looking at photographs -- color from the likes of Pete Turner and Jay Maisel; black and white from the likes of Victor Skrebneski and Ansel and many others. Today I think my inspiration comes from within me, how I’m feeling, how I’m doing and going about my experiences that day. I like to go out in nature and get quiet and let the photograph find me.
I think it was Minor White who said, “No matter how slow the film, Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer It has chosen.” That works for me. Your photograph will find you…you just have to be ready for it.
Has digital photography made any kind of impact on your work?
Digital was like an explosion. It has completely changed how one approaches making imagery. The last 10 years with digital has created a whole new paradigm. The power of the digital darkroom over the conventional darkroom is off the charts. What can be achieved today is whatever the mind can conceive. Of course we can get into all sorts of philosophical arguments about whether or not it’s photography or something else--that will go on for awhile, I’m sure.
What are the advantages or disadvantages in using a digital camera versus film?
This is the biggest argument raging today. Which is better, the detractors lament that digital doesn’t have the nuances of film --its flat, it’s dead, it’s artificial -- that film is being replaced with an inferior material¬ - atoms! I think it was fair to say that was true in the early days of digital but today the sensors on these cameras and the resolution possible…. we’re only limited now by the quality of the optics. I think it’s fair to say today that digital has surpassed film in its resolving power and will only keep getting better.
On a practical level we can shoot unlimited images and review them immediately. That alone has offered us a completely different approach to our subjects. Now with Photoshop, we can do things that were impossible just a few short years ago. It has exploded the realm of possibilities.
What time of day is your favorite time to shoot and why?
I don’t have a favorite time of day for shooting anymore. Any time of day, any kind of weather can be the best time. Chase Jarvis says, the best camera is the one you got at that moment. The best time of day is whenever you’re behind the camera. It used to be that shooting during “Golden hour” was the the best time of day for getting that rich warm image. Now I don’t want it to be right there in front of me. The middle of the day or some other time of day that doesn’t offer up the easy image, forces me to work harder and search out the less obvious. This pushes me, makes me better.
What kind of visual elements draw you to a subject that stirs an emotion inside you?
It all starts with the light… then the challenge of fashioning a strong composition. But without the light, for me the magic doesn’t materialize. Light is the most fascinating stuff. Invisible when it’s not and always changing. Line is the next element. Compositionally what’s contained within the frame, how is it arranged, what is it saying and I think most importantly is it communicating what you felt.
In your opinion, what makes a good photograph?
A good photograph boils down to its content. Content trumps technique any day. If the content is strong enough the technical flaws can be forgiven. Like most all works it has to leave you, the viewer, with something, resonate with you at some level.
What advice would you give an aspiring young photographer?
Shoot as much as you can. Put in your 10,000 hours until the camera is invisible in your hands. Then put it down and learn everything you can about everything else in the world. Then pick up the camera and watch how your pictures will evolve. Digital has allowed the average hobbyist to take an exceptionally strong and technically accurate image with just the push of the shutter button. The differential now, more than ever, is what you, the shooter, brings to the camera in your hands.
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