The Photographer’s Sketchbook
My Sketchbook, In All of It’s, Erm, Glory
A photographer keeping a sketchbook? Say whaaaaaaaaaat?!
It’s actually not as crazy as it sounds.
Artists keep sketchbooks. Writers keep journals. Photographers keep a book with a little bit of everything crammed inside.
I’ve always kept a sketchbook/journal as a part of my creative practice, mostly because my brain is in a thousand places at once and I needed a space to get it all down. I’ve noticed that a lot of my cohort also keep a sketchbook/journal/spiral bound book to record their thoughts and findings as well.
What on earth is in a photographer’s sketchbook? Well, I asked my colleagues to share some of their precious pages– which is a really big deal, considering how secretive we can be about our process!
Shawn Rowe
https://shawn-rowe-5jis.squarespace.com/
Shawn Rowe’s Sketchbook
Shawn uses his sketchbook to write down important dates, names of artists he should look at to inform his work, and his ideas. It acts as a day planner, a brainstorming book, and a research resource! There are even some sketches of a potential photograph.
Chelsea Darter
Chelsea Darter’s Sketchbook
These particular pages in Chelsea’s sketchbook reveal a couple of things: directions on how to use a printer (super handy!) some doodles (hey, some of us need to doodle in order to stay focused!) and important questions she currently has about her work. Sometimes the sketchbook is a place to write out your ideas in a sort of stream of consciousness, to get the swirling thoughts out of your head and onto something tangible in the world. When that happens, it’s easier to focus on making the pictures.
Whit Forrester
Whit Forrester’s Sketchbook
Whit’s sketchbook is more illustrative than the previous ones. He uses his sketchbook as a place to plan out his shots before he takes them, because a huge part of his process is constructing the scenes for the lens. He also does a lot of performance based work, so it is interesting to see him sequence his ideas. There are also mentions of artists he should check out as well.
Rebecca Memoli
http://www.rebeccamemoliphotography.com/
Rebecca Memoli’s Sketchbook
One of the things I adore about Rebecca’s sketchbook is that she sleeps with it, “in case I wake up and I need to write something down.” Talk about commitment! She takes it with her everywhere and uses it as both a day planner and a place to brainstorm. Since Rebecca’s work is very involved in set building and makeup, she uses her sketchbook to draft out some ideas of what she wants her makeup artist to accomplish for her visions.
Danielle Owensby (Me!)
http://www.danielle-deo-owensby.com/
Danielle Owensby’s Sketchbook
My sketchbook is my everything. I call it “my brain” all of the time, because it is where I keep almost everything. Notes from classes, to-do lists, shot lists, notes of encouragement, names of artists to look at, etc. I use it to sketch out my compositions, since I construct my images, which is an important part of my process. I also print out my images after I take them and paste them in, to take notes on (as seen in the very first photo on this blog). I carry it with me everywhere, and I was thinking maybe I should take a note from Rebecca and start sleeping with it under my pillow.
As you’ve probably gathered, photographer’s sketchbooks are brain-dumps. Since a lot of us aren’t classically trained drawers or painters, our ideas have to take form in the way of crude sketches and list making– which is totally acceptable and valid.
Our sketchbooks may not be like DaVinci’s, but they are our precious objects.