PHOTOVISION: The Art and Technique of Photography

Letter from the Editor:
VOL. 4, NO.2 • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003

V.4 N.2 Cover: Lewis L. Millet, WWII. Photo by Nick Del Calzo, © 2003.
Lewis L. Millett, Captain, U.S. Army Company E, 27th Infantry Regiment, awarded the Medal of Honor on July 5, 1951.

My father gave me a camera and built a small dark room in the basement when I was twelve. I endlessly wandered the neighborhood in search of great events to photograph. What I found were squirrels, stop signs and lazy crows but I was desperate to finish another roll of film for the sheer joy of holding wet negatives to the light and seeing actual images.

I searched magazines, newspapers and photography books for inspiration. When I saw a pristine photograph of icicles on the branch of a tree, I photographed icicles on the branch of a tree. When I saw a beautiful nude, I yearned to photograph a beautiful nude but, alas, at twelve years I had no prospects. As I grew older, my circle widened and I sought out photographers and editors, including John Loengard, Jim Hughes and Ralph Gibson. Their criticism was painful and precise. Above all, they recommended that I “stake out my own territory” and “find my own voice.” They also encouraged me to shoot lots of film, frequent galleries and museums, and study books by other photographers—from Edward Weston and Bill Brandt to Walker Evans and Robert Frank. I studied at NYU Film School and The School of Visual Arts, but I also studied any family album I could get my hands on. I was in awe of commonplace images, and to this day, I can’t get over the brilliance of George Eastman’s quest to put cameras in the family’s hands.

There is a photo in a family album that I found captioned “Dad’s Arm, Arizona” and it is simply the picture of a man’s arm resting on the open window of a car door. It is one of the most honest and unpretentious photos I have ever seen. I still love to shoot and explore the territory between the soulful melancholy of Robert Frank’s “The Americans” and “Dad’s Arm, Arizona.”

I am looking forward to my association with Photovision and sharing my passion for the world of photography with all of you, without bias on subject or creation.

Rick Levy
Senior Editor