Currently hanging at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Annie Leibovitz’s “Pilgrimage” intends to tell the tale of Annie’s personal journey over two years, photographing artifacts and locations related to some of America’s greatest individuals. I attended this gallery with my good friend Jordan Bush, who has offered his thoughts on the exhibition. The exhibit is a significant departure from Leibovitz’s usual work, with photographs focusing on objects and places rather than portraits of the rich and famous. Yet, despite this, there is a familiarity to the material, as the objects are all related to the well-known and celebrated: Abraham Lincoln’s gloves and hat from the night he was assassinated, Sigmund Freud’s couch and books, Ansel Adam’s darkroom. These are exactly the type of items you might travel around the country to see, and yet, the images did not evoke the emotional connection to the people and the artifacts that I was

For my first post, I thought I'd share with you the philosophy behind my photography, and how it developed over the past 2+ years. It's how I try to think when I'm behind the camera, and while I can't say I'm always as good at this as I'd like to be, I think that the more time I spend on photography, the more I follow these two (seemingly) simple words: Be Deliberate. It's easy to say now, but it was a long road getting to this point, and even today I still find myself forgetting how important it is. I'm ashamed to say that back when I got my first DSLR (a Canon 50D), I thought that a fancy camera made better pictures. Or, more accurately, I thought having a better camera made you a better photographer. Of course, I learned soon enough that it couldn't be further from the truth,