TEACHING STYLE//BAY AREA'S BEST DOG PHOTOGRAPHER JESSE FREIDIN

In preparation for my month-long East Coast residency and upcoming seminars, I spent a lot of time this weekend thinking about how one teaches 'style'. Style is that untouchable, almost inexplicable thing that you can't fake, you can't force, and you really can't teach. Style has to come from within. It has to be purely yours, and no one elses. Maybe it's the scariest part of being an artist, because it truly is what defines you. Sure- tools and skills and connections and work ethic and ideas etc- these things all define us as artists. But at the end of the day, I think our style is what anchors us. It's what I always come back to when I need to refocus myself and my work, and I'm excited to work with my students this Summer on their own personal styles.

Diane Arbus once said "A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know." For me, the intimacy of a moment and the story-telling of a session is integral in my approach. This Summer, I'll be using a variety of techniques to push my students to concentrate their styles, take out the excess, articulate their completely unique eye, and learn how to present it back ot the world. And I can't wait!

To register for a class or learn more about when and where I'll be teaching- visit my CLASSES/TRAVEL page.