Peter Turnley Essay on Gifts Waiting at Every Corner

I have been a fan of Peter Turnley’s work since my early days a photojournalism student. There’s a quality to his work that resonates with me, that “slice-of-life” moment I’m always looking for.

He has written an essay for The Online Photographer that talks about his growing up and into the photojournalist he is now. He talks a lot about where his inspiration came from as a young shooter, about all of the work that he studied, and it leads me to wonder how much time my students are spending looking at the body of work that has come before them. Something I’ll ask this afternoon, I suspect …

Love this bit about an encounter with one of my favorites …

My encounters with Henri Cartier-Bresson always left me feeling blessed, because his personal presence, language, and words always reminded me that photography is not at its core about cameras or film vs. digital, but about exploring and contemplating the richness of life and the world around us.