Documentary Photography is for Everyone

Episode 34 - In this episode, Zach & Courtney talk about the importance of documenting our lives.

It’s could be easy to dismiss photographing everyday life and the world around us, but it’s an important practice. We learn a lot about the past from ordinary images, maybe even more than we learn from the major events that people might consider “photo worthy.”

What did people really look like and dress like? How did they interact with each other? What did people do in their daily lives? What do the places where they live and work and interact look like?

Photographers who document the world are not just making a record of their family, but also providing a view of our society as a whole.

“Photography is nothing–it's life that interests me.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson

Index

0:00 - Intro: These pictures will matter.

3:12 - Barriers to entry for “documentary photography”

4:39 - When Zach started documenting everyday life

12:07 - We underestimate the wider value of photographing our families

21:36 - We need photos of daily life to know what the past was like

23:56 - William Eggleston’s photos weren’t well received at the time

25:24 - How do you do documentary photography

29:03 - Awesome photo of baseball player Jo Adell taken by a fan

32:04 - Documentary photography brings the story to a larger audience

39:16 - Just start taking photos. Don’t worry about making good ones.

47:25 - The only impact we have on the world is what comes from within us

Find Zach

Website: https://zachdobson.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachdobsonphoto/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zachdobsonphoto

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@zachdobsonphoto

Find Courtney

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtneymccracken_/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@happy_life_lessons

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@courtneymccracken_

About the Podcast

Photography is Nothing with Zach Dobson and Courtney McCracken is a weekly conversation about photography and all its impact. Each week Zach and Courtney discuss their latest adventures, life lessons, and anything else that sounds interesting.

Photography is Nothing invites you into the conversations they were already having as a married couple running a photography and media company in the current world.

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