“You know, I really don’t think you learn from teachers. You learn from work. I think what you learn, really, is how to be – you have to be your own toughest critic, and you only learn that from work, from seeing work.”

Garry Winogrand, Photographer

In this quote, Garry Winogrand presents the idea that the greatest teacher we—as photographers, as people—can ever have is ourselves. After all, as artists, the only way to fully control our own art is to be our own critics. And if that is what we seek to do—control our art—then the only way is to learn is to teach ourselves: to be our own toughest critics, as Winogrand puts it—we must be able to judge ourselves harshly.

This is one image I’ve learned from. The original was ludicrously discolored—it was green. This was mainly due to improper exposure, which really taught me that you can’t just “fix it in post.”

I’ve learned to adjust my exposure on sight, but also how I can fix an image where I’ve not.

This is another image I’ve learned from. It taught me that anything can be a subject. I now know how to compose my frame to draw your eye to a specific area.