 He is, quite simply, I think, the perfect amateur photographer and his approach to photography, I believe, is the antidote to the modern obsession with social validation. Amateur photography is dead. Or at least, that's what the title of a recent article I read on the website Amalsif boldly stated. The author claimed that amateur photography has ceased to be simply a record of us documenting our lives and the things that capture our enthusiasm created for the sole purpose of just saying, and this is me and who I am, and that rather over the past decade or so it has metamorphosed into a weird hybrid of professional photography where for most people they are selling themselves a sort of social currency, if you will. Why do we photograph professionals? Do it because it's their livelihood. And amateur photographers seem to have forgotten why, and that's the real issue. Amateur photography isn't dead, it just smells funny, and it's time to remember why we turned to photography in the first place, the pure joy of taking a photo for the sole purpose of just taking a photo. We're going to rediscover this joy that you had through the eyes of the most perfect amateur photographer of all time, Jacques Henley-Lautrigue. How's it? How's it? There's been a lot of interest shown in my own photography, and the truth is, at least for my personal photography, I don't really show very much of it online, I have a half-baked Instagram account which is primarily for my studio photography, I used to have a few images on Tumblr and outside of those things, not really much else online. In previous videos, and if you're interested in seeing them, and you haven't already I'll link for you at the end of the video, I put forth the idea that you should create photography that pleases yourself first and foremost. And in this video, we're going to explore why we are creating those images to start with. What is their purpose? Have they gotten one at all? Are we required to promote our photography across as many platforms as possible in the modern world in pursuit of likes? When you be a successful photographer, if no one ever sees your photographs, I want to reset your passion and reconnect you to why you first picked up a camera, and I thought the best person to help me with this is Jacques Henley-Lautrigue, a French photographer who started taking photographs as a young child in the early years of the 20th century. Now if you look up amateur photographers in addiction, you're going to see a picture of Lautrigue. He is quite simply, I believe, the perfect amateur photographer and his approach to photography I believe is the antidote to the modern obsession with social validation. Lautrigue was given his first camera at the age of seven and naturally as a young boy, he photographs the things that interest him. His images are full of enthusiasm, they're full of whimsy and family just being just a family. There's no greater purpose to his photographs than simply pointing the camera, tripping the shutter and in his own words capturing the most endearing moments of his life. Now I'm sure a lot of us can understand and empathise with this vibe of things, you know this magical box in our hands that through some mystical process has created an image and once that image was taken without thought of how it may be used later on to stroke our egos or to gain us fame, we moved on to the next image and the next and the next and the next. The process itself was enough to keep us enthralled. This is where we need to be again as amateur photographers in this place of wonder where we care less. In fact we don't care at all about where this photograph may end up and just give ourselves over to the moment. There's too much emphasis in the modern world at least as far as I'm concerned on this idea that somehow we are owed something in return for being creative, that that photograph over there, that one on the frame next to us, got so many more likes and yet my photograph is far better and therefore far deserving of more praise. You know a great person once said that comparison is the thief of joy and I believe that has never been more true than the world of online photo one-upmanship. And Streak almost again from the beginning of his career placed his photographs in albums, not portfolio cases designed to show off his work but large albums simply for his own and to a lesser extent his family's enjoyment. Despite the fact that I used the word family these weren't he said family albums but rather they were himself in picture form you know the album was him and everything he loved and everything that interested LaTriegue he was the album and the album was LaTriegue. The photographs were taken they were developed lovingly printed and carefully placed in the albums and then well nothing really he just put them in an album and like that was it. If LaTriegue didn't do anything with his photographs then why did he take them in the first place? I'm a big fan of cooking analogies and photography and rather happily LaTriegue has used the cooking analogy to explain why he took photographs. He said cooks pick cherries to make jam and to eat the jam. He said I am a cook who likes to pick cherries make the jam but I like to eat fresh fruit. When pressed about the point of making jam at all LaTriegue said that first he used to pretend that he'd taken a photograph of something he enjoyed but the process wasn't quite the same and besides he hated seeing all of those cherries go to waste. Such a simple concept nothing grand or attention seeking no worry about how this image or the next is going to be received just his own eyes roaming unhindered and seeking the next cherry to photograph. We are all more than able of becoming the photographers we feel we are capable of being. The basic skills that will help us get us started though the real key to unlocking that potential is understanding why we feel this urge to create photographs in the first place. At the end of this video I'll put up two playlists for you to enjoy. One is about great photographers like LaTriegue who can teach us so much about being photographers and the other is devoted to helping you feel more relaxed and more comfortable about creating images in this noisy noisy world that is dominated by social media. They sound like you know the end of those choose your own adventure books where you have two choices well at the end of this this video you'll have two choices I know you're going to love both options. If there were no plans beyond this idea of picking cherries for LaTriegue's photography then how was it that somebody like Richard Avedon that legendary American photographer saw LaTriegue's work on display at the Museum of Modern Art in the mid 60s and wrote to Jacques Henry LaTriegue and said that it was one of the most moving experiences of his life and that the photographs on display had brought me into LaTriegue's world and said after all isn't that the purpose of art. Much like Vivien Mayer in the mid 2010s LaTriegue's photography was only really discovered in his later life you know when he was age 69 an agent happened to come across one of his albums I'm not sure exactly the chain of events but LaTriegue spent his life as a working painter it's quite possible that he had some sort of connection there and there was a happy coincidence that this this agent happened to see some of these work of personal photographs and it set forth a chain of events that led to this moment show and LaTriegue's exposure in Life magazine. Despite because of this LaTriegue having some commercial work and doing commercial jobs for people he remained ever much the amateur and he continued to be humble and modest about his photography creating work simply for the love of creating it. When pressed about why one of his most famous photographs was considered to be great he simply said for that you must ask the collectors for this photograph next to it is equally as good. I think it would be missing the point here to say that ultimately your goal is to become famous and well known and just just be humble in the meantime and make your work in secret and play for luck to turn our head our way. Now neither Mayor LaTriegue or countless others whom fortune didn't fancy I think Harvard any desire to be a famous photographer they simply created their photography with a goal just to create photography. LaTriegue's photography isn't successful because it was exhibited at MoMA or moved Richard Avid and to write a letter it's successful because he approached it like an amateur an amateur in the truest sense of the word he created his photography for the love of the process and it's this legacy that he has left with us within his photographs it always feels like it's springtime a European springtime but a springtime nevertheless you're looking at his images we can put ourselves in his shoes to feel what he felt to experience the world as he did the album is LaTriegue and LaTriegue is the album. Now your photography before anything else should be created from this state of mind in this place of being no goal beyond doing something for you if no other person other than yourself ever sees your photography so long as the act of taking a photograph of recording it makes you happy then your photography will be a success. The amateur photographer isn't dead rather they well we for although technically I'm a kind of professional but at heart I'm still very much an amateur just we've simply lost our way a bit despite having the platforms available to us to show off our photography far and wide we don't have to there's nothing wrong with not showing your photography off to the whole world if you don't want to. LaTriegue's photography is wonderful because it wasn't created for you it wasn't created for me or anybody else but the photographer he was unquestionably talented he was enthusiastic and extremely prolific but first and foremost though he was an amateur the photography is genuine I want you to be an amateur for as long as you can learn improve evolve but do so for yourself not as some method of getting likes from people who don't know you and don't really care about you. I mentioned earlier those two choices well click on the playlist you can see up on the screen the top one is about learning to see photographically and the bottom one features more great photographers for you to discover and learn from. Thanks ever so much for being here today and I look forward again to seeing you soon.