Nice work, Bryan. From one photog to another, don't limit yourself by what you describe as "30-40 year old white guys." If they were the only subjects available what would you do? How would you shoot them? Most importantly, how would you tell their story? Everyone has a story. My favorite quote from Maya Angelou is, "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you." Keep telling those stories - whether they are of "average looking white guys" or not. Grace and peace - Hal
Thanks, Hal. I agree with you for sure. My comments may have sounded harsh a tad but I meant more along the lines of “I’m looking for diversity”. But I agree that things can lead to opportunities which I do welcome with open arms. But also film is expensive and I can’t be shooting a bunch of 4x5 color of people that I don’t really connect with right off the bat. Maybe if I was shooting digital I could explore a bit more.
The vulnerable path you've taken to share all of this with us is actually helping. A long term project is such a rollercoaster of emotions... Seeing someone else in the process reminds me that I'm not alone trying to make meaningful things happen, to keep pushing by being true to what's really inside. The last bit with the therapist resonates a lot, when we'll be old, will we be able to say that we made choices based on who we are or just what society wanted us to be...
Thanks, Bruno. Sometimes I want to hide it all and work that way but I can do that down the line or another project. I’m learning just as much about myself doing these videos than a thing else. Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for what you do. I’ve just started getting into photography and making videos and I find what you are doing very inspiring. So just wanted to say thank you and look forward to following your future work. Ben
I love the open-ended format and subject matter of your videos! They compliment your photography while also being able to stand alone. Thanks for making them and inspiring us, man. Will definitely be buying. a print at some point down the road.
14:58 … ah, there’s that Bryan Birks angst i was hoping for! thanks for always keeping it 100, man. your work is phenomenal as always, and your vulnerability and honesty is the antidote we’re all looking for in this ridiculous/fake/“perfect” social media world we all exist in nowadays.
Appreciate that. I try to be real so that really means a lot. It got me in trouble a bit in the past but I’m trying to continue doing it while staying mostly positive. Haha
Bryan, I always appreciate how you talk about your work, how you criticize and analyze your photographs. It helps me to look deeper into my images and see better my flaws.
This video actually triggered an idea for an image I hadn't thought about. I've been struggling with getting out and thinking about possible subjects. This video lit a spark of inspiration. Good work. Like your videos and your approach to photography and sharing your journey.
Always admired your raw honesty in your videos Bryan, not easy to do but you commit to it. The thing about negativity is that it so easily turns into begrudgery, when that sets in you’re spending more energy begrudging others relative success than working to build it for yourself. I’ve been there brother, it feels crap, but having the self awareness to recognise that’s what you’re doing is what matters
Great video, Bryan, and I loved the ending. There was a lot here that really resonated--the P in HIPA, that action breeds confidence, that the sun is always there--magnificent. I like to know that you are making strides in confidently asking to photograph, which is definitely a challenge for me as well. Thanks for all you do.
Glad you enjoyed, Pat. Confidence has been a big hurdle for me with photography and life in general but it’s nice to see ways that can help you push passed it.
Your videos are so refreshing to watch. Thank you for your honesty and for making thought-provoking content. Loved the shots of the car interior too, and the message you included about them.
Thank you for your videos man! Equal parts catharsis and inspiration. Looking forward to getting my hands on what ever final shape this project turns out to be! Keep up the hard work!
This is stunning Bryan. Thank you sharing this with us. Gorgeous photos. I've been using the HIPA tool for some time and it has been incredibly beneficial to my spirit and work.
I come here for the philosophy... One thing to think about: How do YOU define success? I always struggle with the question. Is money enough? The "golden handcuffs" is a blessing and a curse. If you unbox Disney toys and make millions at it, you're locked in doing that forever. Maybe that's good. Maybe that's bad.
Success to me is feeling fulfilled in whatever way that means to you. Fulfilled for me is creating things that inspire and connect with people. Money is a bonus and far from my main goal (pretty obvious with my choice of RU-vid content). I think money and financial success comes or it doesn’t so there’s no point in striving towards that.
Hi Bryan, this is the first video of yours I have watched, The thumbnail pulled me in. I took like that image of the windshield sticker. Thanks for sharing the therapy insights, they are interesting. I wanted to comment on something I picked up you saying about your shooting TMAX, you said you exposed for the shadows to get a little bit of overexposure. If you are exposing for the shadows, or I would argue exposing as intended, you are not overexposing. With film you should be exposing for the shadows and developing for the highlights. I realize there are many ways to do things, and that isn't the only way, but wanted to put that out and see what you thought. Thanks for sharing.
I get that. I would say it’s still overexposed personally. But it doesn’t really matter at all. Just get a good negative. Too many people are worried about the logistics and technical aspects that they forget to get a good subject anyway.
Knowing is an illusion. Knowing is the enemy of exploration and humility. I think I've become more confident in myself by embracing the lack of knowing which motivates true exploration (photography).
Loved this one Bryan, always great to see so much honesty in a RU-vid video. Recently watched the Stutz documentary too, interesting seeing you translate it into the world of photography, very relatable. Keep it up, shot of the windscreen & the snakes are beaut
I too have self employed myself as the “hero” to the broken and sad people who may feel alone by taking photos and making music that evoke sadness and nostalgia. Obviously, a part of the reason I do this was to express my own feelings of sadness and nostalgia for a better time from the past. But I think anybody is predisposed to being sad and nostalgic if they walk into that space by overthinking about the past and not accepting where it’s brought us in the present. On the flip side, we can less feel sad and depressed if we instead walk into the space of presence and opportunity. Trauma and pain can make migrating from the former space to the latter more challenging and less intuitive, and it may have been the very thing that threw us into the space of negativity, continuously trying to be understood, and trying to show others that they are understood in the process as well, but once we gain awareness of ourselves being this way, having presence as our compasses North Star instead may allow us to search for support and opportunities to at least take us to that destination, rather than having this “hero” identity being recognized and appreciated as our North Star because that way we will always be surrounding ourselves by sadness and negativity to spark our creative motivation and to use these sad and negative things as inspirations for the art we ultimately create ourselves.
your vid is very very inspirant for me. instinct, faith, the safer path... all those concepts touch my heart very deep. way more than other content on youtube. it sings like a melody to my soul, i'm very happy to stumbled upon your work. as a film photography amateur it makes me feel so good 🙂 because here I don't hear anything about technics and, as you said it : "you have to it THIS way to be GOOD". just philosophy / spiritual way of sharing thoughts sorry for my words I can be shaggy with the english langage sometimes, as it is not my native ^_^
@@BryanBirks You never disappoint, Mr Birks. Great video as always. That pic of the windscreen really is fantastic. Isn't it funny the photos that really do it for you?
Definitely a video that is thought provoking but I disagree about you portrait of the owner of the truck. I felt it was important & captured a person in life. I personally don't think portraits have to be of individuals that are unique in our options. Peoples lives are always important to record.
I agree with that sentiment. I’m not saying it was a bad experience or some people are more important but some encounters are going to be less ideal for a my specific project than others. I would love to take everyone’s portrait and here their stories but I only have so much time and money to spend on film.
The idea of `love your enemy' is not new of course. And yes, in a sense we are in charge of love because love resides in the will. It's not an emotion and therefore does not depend on our emotions. So we can choose to love those we don't like without gaining anything in return. But you need to know why it's efficacious. Why the %^%$ not is no reason. As far as not costing you anything, nothing is further from the truth. When you say you love your spouse it will cost you the rest of your life because you sacrifice your own self centred desires (unlike the guy who needed applause) for the sake of your spouse. One guy became a husband and father one day and he realised to love he now needed to put himself last and others first. Like a lot of things there are good points in here but they're misguided
Another interesting video Bryan. You always have great content. Your comments seem like you’re looking for more diversity amongst vintage car collectors/owners. I might suggest that maybe this project is revealing the truth which is that the people who are collecting, restoring and owning vintage cars are just about always ‘normal looking’ middle age white guys. Instead of lamenting the lack of diversity, maybe you should go out of your way to highlight it. Anyway you definitely have your own vision and you are making great work with this project. Love your channel, keep creating.
Thanks, Jillian. Even though it is revealing some truths I think I’ll leave that for someone else to capture because I’m not very interested in that realm. That seems like a project to tackle if you’re looking at collectors and people who have pristine vehicles. I’m personally not interested in that route but I’m sure a project is in there for someone else. I’m after the gritty vehicles, the rusted garages, and the people around them.
I don’t want to be negative Nancy here; but whilst Chris is an average looking white guy and isn’t initially interesting your 30 second relationship with the subject screams within the portrait. The book “authentic portraits” by Chris Orwig completely changed my trajectory for my own projects. I’ve met a number of subjects but have never taken a single frame for that project. A portrait of my own brother verses a stranger had incredibly different characteristics despite the same lens, camera and photographer.
Definitely not a negative Nancy. Glad that you think so. I did have more time with him than that though. Around 45 minutes. I’ll have to look into that project!
Your videos are inspirational for me. I can’t ask for much more than that. Thank you. Also, whether or not you know the difference between vice grips or a screwdriver has nothing to do with intelligence. I think you have plenty of that.
Really appreciate that, Alan. Also thank you for the tip that you left me in the last video. I really appreciate the support! I lack knowledge in tools for sure but luckily make up for it in other departments.
I think that in regards to Tim the 'uninteresting' white guy with the pickup truck that perhaps you didn't make the the effort to understand his story. Why did he buy it? and do what he did to make it the way it was?
I made the effort. Lol I know the story of the truck and most of Tim’s. We talked for 45 minutes. That’s why I took the photo of the Navy sticker. That’s interesting to me. It’s okay to say someone doesn’t make for an interesting portrait. I’m not sure why everyone is stuck on that. Tim is a good guy. Just not right for my project.
@@BryanBirks And that's the explanation which should have been in your video. Otherwise, you come across as dismissive. Use of language. A carelessly placed word can completely change the meaning of a sentence.
There are a lot of things that I don’t mention in regards to interactions because the videos would end up being way too long. I understand your point though.
There is a strong relationship between mental health and photography or art in general. Some people with high skill level manage to take advantage of their mental problems and turn them into powerful art, these people are sometimes called geniuses but for me at least, that's not a reality. My mental health sometimes gets in the way of me getting off the couch, going out and taking the camera with me. Once I am out there things feel much better with the camera in my hands, specially when I am "on the zone" but before that I just struggle to get out and shoot.
Some interesting insights here, great editing and awesome images. I was somewhat amused, both here and in an earlier video, your repeatedly alluding to a past sense of indignant anger at your photography not getting the recognition it deserved. An example of the frustration was that when you started out and had only something like 200 followers on Instagram! I've been posting good quality street and documentary film photography on IG for the over 5 years and I have finally amassed just over 130 followers in that time 🤣 If I'm lucky I might get 20 likes for a really good image. And the thing is, I really couldn't care less! The whole social media thing is a complete load of bullshit anyway, it's a totally meaningless game for people to play. It has minimal meaning for photography. As the therapist here quite rightly says, create for you, not seeking external praise... and always be comfortable with the full knowledge that what we go forward to create might end up actually being complete garbage anyway.
I agree that it is mostly bullshit but it is a very fine line because without it where would I be? Would I even be making work? It’s a catalyst for action even though the things that we go off of (likes, shares, comments) are terrible indications of worth or quality of work. As someone who started photography right in the thick of the rise of social media and IG it is incredibly hard for me to separate my work and people online. Their opinions and such. It’s something that I’m definitely working on and it’s easy for someone to say that it doesn’t matter when they haven’t seen the benefits of it in regards to monetary gains and attention on their work. I literally got a job offer from a major news publication all because they saw my work on IG. It’s a tricky tricky thing and I appreciate your comment. I’m working myself through these thoughts all the time.
Your statements about cancelling negativity in your photographic journey seemed to grind against your statement about Tim and the red truck. How Tim did not fit your ideal of the perfect subject. When focusing on how generous Tim was to 'let' you photograph his truck would have been a more respectful approach to your work. I feel it is not solely about the outcome of the image, but the interaction with all involved.
“Perfect” subject is going to be relative to myself and my project. I don’t think saying someone isn’t fit for a portrait is negative. I did end up photographing him because I respected him and his time and still wanted to capture him with his truck but I was more than certain that it wouldn’t be a photo that made the cut because of the tone that I have set before him. Like I said to someone else, my choice of film is not cheap so I try to be certain before taking the photo that I’m not wasting my time and money. In my opinion that is not a negative thing but just making choices based on circumstances. I certainly respect anyone that allows me to photograph them as well.
Bryan, you are an authentic person and your videos are so inspirational. I have been watching them before going out on photo projects and they calm me down and make me inspired to shoot. Thank you.
