Chelsea recently moved to the city and I couldn't be happier. Nothing like having a bestie around for frolicking and galavanting...and also eating your weight in good cheese, drinking tons of coffee and rhapsodizing about Paris. Speaking of, I just finished David McCullough's The Greater Journey (I blogged about starting it here), a historical work that's unexpectedly gripping from the get-go. McCullough artfully weaves together the lives of American expatriates in 19th-century Paris; I wish it were twice the size, really. One of the details I found most fascinating is the way art students would spend days and weeks replicating paintings in the Louvre.
As much as I respect and appreciate copyright law, it made me think about how truly helpful it is to attempt to copy something as a part of the learning process. It can teach you so much about which elements of a work you really appreciate and why. It's one of the reasons I think Instagram is such a great tool for photographers - there's endless inspiration and no harm or hassle in trying different styles of shooting. I've found that my favorite Instagrammers make great use of shadow, negative space and a simple or muted color palette.
Instagram is not the Louvre and an iPhone photo is not Degas, but here are a few of the accounts on IG that have influenced how I shoot: @jasonhudson, @alice_gao, @dabito, @amerrymishap and @lifeserial. And don't forget to follow me @thisfruitsnaps! Images, clockwise from top-left: spoon at La Colombe, Chelsea at home, the backyard of Saturdays Surf NYC, my book.
