Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to George Wilson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi George, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.
Yes, absolutely. In business today, going against the flow is what gets you noticed. This is especially true for creatives/artists. It puts you into a niche market. That is a good thing in my book. I am an editorial (news) photographer first and foremost – that is how I was “minted”. That is where the excitement and the passion for storytelling are fully realized. As a artist, however, I am a landscape photographer. This is where I diverge from the mainstream photographers. However, to really find my niche, I went back to my roots in Black and White Photography. This eliminated the vast majority of photographers who remain dedicated color work – and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. To further diverge from the pack, I moved to infrared landscape work – and specifically the Florida landscape. Florida’s economy is tourism driven. This is wonderful, but unfortunately many people see Florida as a giant theme park or a beach escape. Very seldom do our visitors – and residents – venture beyond parking lots and hotels onto the dirt roads or foot paths to experience the “other side” of my adopted home.
Infrared is an invisible wavelength of light and the “other areas” of Florida are often unseen to the usual tourist and resident. The choice of medium seemed to be a natural one for me. But I really needed to diverge yet again to make my work stand out, to really be different from the industry. I chose to work in infrared panoramic.
My panoramic images are composed in the field to cover well over a 100° angle of view. I make the digital capture in an upper half and bottom half of the image. I ensure that all images have the proper overlaps as well. My computer software then stitches, on average, 18 images together in a large composite stitched panoramic image. The image is then cropped and printed at either 16” x 48” or 32” x 96” – yes, a print that is eight feet long!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I have been working as a professional photographer for 42 years. I began selling my images when I was 16 and they were being published by the time I was 18. If you actually count the number of years, I have held a camera in my hands, it is 50. I have been a freelance news wire service photographer for almost as long as I have been selling my images and am currently represented by – DPA (Deutsche Presse Agentur), DeFodi Images, and NurPhoto Agency covering the Kennedy Space Center, feature stories, professional and collegiate sports as well as breaking news across Central Florida.
My roots are in black-and-white film photography, I would spend hours in the darkroom gingerly coaxing my images to “emerge” from photo paper in developer solutions. It always seemed magical, absolutely nothing like hitting the print button on the computer today. I would gently tone these images with selenium for richer blacks and more brilliant whites. Yes, I am speaking a different language as this was long before Photoshop and Lightroom burst onto the scene. It was also a time when there was no “undo” button. Mistakes meant starting the printing process over with a new sheet of photo paper. I was “hooked” early on by the emotion that black and white portrayed and the power of photography as an expressive medium.
Photography enables the viewer to share and experience a moment in time as well. Now years later, in the digital era, I work in color for my news work, but I still maintain my connection to black and white photography by using a camera with a native format of black and white (monochrome). It is not capable of rendering a color image. This forces me to listen first to the story, feel the emotion of the moment, see the textures and experience what is unique. I am an observer, yes, but I am also a participant. The person being photographed has allowed me to be present in their experience – it is a privilege not be taken lightly.
Whether working in color or black and white, each person, each location and each moment has its own story to be told; the photographer must capture it and allow the viewer the same experience – visually. I even still use my original set of black and white contrast filters from the 1980’s in my work with this camera.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
In a nutshell, I am different from mainstream photographers. Yes, I work in color – that is just staying current with the marketplace. If a client would like black and white or infrared as an option, then that is the camera and medium of choice – there is no going back. I will work in that chosen medium. I do not convert images into either format in post processing from color. It is a full commitment with a camera capable only of the chosen format. This definitely makes me a niche photographer. I also work completely in manual – There is nothing automatic about my exposures. Aperture, shutter speed, lighting are all done manually. I even use the old “sunny 16” rule for setting exposures or a handheld light meter made in 1947! If a client would like film to be used – I will use it. How is that for old school?
I often refer to this as the “burn the ships” approach. When Cortez arrived in the “New World” in 1519 to conquer the Aztecs, he ordered his men to burn their ships. This made them committed to succeed or never return to Spain. For my work, I have cameras that will capture in color. I also have cameras with a native format of monochrome – they are incapable of capturing a color image, just tones of gray. Contrasts and depth is achieved through contrast filters in front of the lens – not sliders in post processing. Other cameras have been fully converted to infrared either 720nm or 830nm. There is no going back for me – no changing my mind. The camera I have with me is what I am fully committed to working with. For the client, this is a unique and individual experience. One of these days I will venture into collodion and tintype photography to fully embrace a restricted palette. As a creative, I am now forced to see the work differently – to be liberated by my limitations.
My drive for being different came from a high school photography class. I was extremely proud of an image I had made and printed. It was beautifully matted with white cotton rag material. I showed it to my teacher and was proud to say that it looked just like an Ansel Adams print. He agreed with me, but then said something that has stayed with me always: “Ansel Adams has already done Ansel Adams – when will I see you in that print?” I was stunned. But it was the most valuable piece of criticism I have ever received. What will make my work stand out? How will I be different, unique and creative? What will make me stand out from the crowd?
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
First, this requires me to define myself and define my work. The answer is subjective, but worth the discussion. It is widely believed that creativity is the same thing as artistic ability. The terms are often used interchangeably. Thus, perpetuating the confusion and furthering a contradiction in terms.
Just because someone is unable to draw something beyond a stick figure, does not mean that they are not creative. The ability to draw is related to artistic ability and not creativity.
We are all born creative and remain creative throughout life. Creativity will manifest itself differently depending on your age, environment, and stages of development we go through (that is to say that your creativity will be differently expressed when you are 5 years old versus when you are 40). Creativity has nothing to do with the arts, although arts are directly influenced by creativity.
Artists require both creativity and artistic ability along with other things – in order to complete their endeavor. Creativity in this context is an added touch to the work an artist does and clearly can improve the work dramatically. For a lot of artists to create something requires a mix of artistic ability, talent, technique, personal style, and creativity.
I consider myself an artist.
Being an artist forces you to slow down. There was a time in my photography when I saw what was around me. The transition to artist began when I started to realize and experience what was around me. Rapidly fading were the days when I saw clouds as white masses. The artist in me saw the brilliant whites contrasted against the sky. I saw shadows that gave them contour and shape. I did not see the image in color, my artist’s eye was seeing the world in tonal values. The colors before me rendered definition and contrasts in my images. I now waited for the gentle winds to move the clouds into an alignment I had visualized for my final image.
The landscape under these clouds become an astounding mixture of light and shadow flowing in an array of directions in front of my lens.
Transitioning to an artist made me “be in the moment”. I appreciated the elements of the scene; the sound of the wind, the feel of the sun shining on me and the smell of the grasses or a recently passed rain storm. Appreciating these elements forced me to incorporate them in my images – in my interpretation of the moment. In a very broad sense, I was no longer focused on what was wrong with the world, but what was right.
Photography – for an artist – is visual communication. Thoughts, feelings, messages are spoken through visual cues, through shadow and textures and through the arrangement of elements in the image. Being an artist has given me another voice – a language that transcends barriers. I do not get tongue tied or at a loss for words with an image. The message remains constant and for each viewer it is a singular experience between them and the image.
Being an artist has allowed me to capture images that give other people a glimpse into who I am and how I see Florida, the country and the world beyond. It is a raw and real voice, in which I can share my thoughts in a way that can emotionally touch people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wilsonphotographyfl.com
Image Credits
All Images by George Wilson