 How's it? How's it? The photographic eye exists because of a mistake. Photography on YouTube has a problem and that is that unless you do gear reviews you really struggle to get in front of people for people to see what it is that you offer and that is one of the reasons why I started the photographic eye to begin with is that I loved reading about photography of using books like this called the the photographers eye which are mostly just well they're just pictures there's not really much to them there's certainly not how-to books there's certainly not you know processes that you can emulate there are more images that spark a curiosity that show you the broad spectrum of photography and and say to you look have you considered doing x y and z things they also have within them occasionally some quotes and there's one here by Edward Western who is a really great photographer and if you'd like to see an episode on him let me know in the comments below and he says here putting one's head under the focusing cloth is a thrill to pivot the camera slowly around watching the image change on the ground glass is a revelation now anybody who's ever had the the thrill and I'm going to use that word again because it is major thrill of seeing the world represented on a ground glass being a waist level finder four by five screen knows how fascinating it is to see the world like a camera does and that's what I wanted to inspire in people is the thrill of photography beyond the technical processes beyond the gear beyond the basics to say to other photographers other people who are interested in the still image look these are people maybe you've not heard of them check them out I you you may like them you may go oh that's rubbish Alex what the hell are you talking about right but at least you're looking at least you're getting a richer experience in photography and that's why I wanted to start this channel but that's the real issue which I wasn't aware of is that because YouTube is the way it is that's why there are so many gear channels because people search for that stuff specifically the sort of content that the photographic I and other channels of you know similar nature operate we have to make a name for ourselves in what's called browse so these are videos that come up on your screen and on the home page that you haven't you know subscribed to but YouTube thinks you may enjoy watching and to get you to watch the videos they need to be something that you kind of go I oh I am interested in that if I show you a title it just says Ezra Stoller architect photographer it's unlikely unless you know who Ezra Stoller is or you're having a burning desire to know about architectural photography that you're not going to watch it and if you don't watch it then the channel eventually just withers and dies not least because the creator gives up making the content because nobody's watching it but then also if YouTube goes there's nobody's watching it they don't push subsequent videos so we have to walk a very fine line between titles and thumbnails that encourage people to watch the video spark their curiosity somehow but then also sensationalist kind of things now recently you know I've been accused mostly fairly of having some sort of sensationalist let's go over excited titles and that's because I'm trying to find the balance of of encouraging people to to look at photography in a different light of discovering things of channeling into that feeling that I get from you know looking at books like this of watching videos like the genius of photography that the BBC documentary that used to be on a few years ago and if I can find it for American people I will link to it in the description box below because it is it is outstanding and of course the Americans not to be outdone also have the PBS series from I think like the 1970s somewhere around there so people like you know so Edward Steichen and stuff you know the greats and and what a privilege it is to listen to photographers talk for them to share their interests and that's why I wanted to make videos like this is because it is so rare to find videos about photographers talking about explaining their craft not in a how-to way but in a gutsy sort of instinctual sort of way so because at the time Ted Forbes was kind of the only person really doing videos about the the greats of photography or people who've photographed I found interesting I thought okay well that's something I might want to do you know kind of cool because I he was any person I could find at the time other things were maybe just these blank screens of images being paraded back for without any sort of real discussion about the photographer and I wanted to be entertained I wanted to find out something new to sit down rather than with a book and you know and some of the autobiographies or biographies rather can be a little bit academic and very weighty but just to kind of go at that's enjoyable what a lovely way of spending half an hour 45 minutes just looking at at wonderful photographs and and finding out a bit more about photography and there wasn't really any content around there was nothing that was well that I felt was was interesting so I scrabbled around and went okay well I'm gonna what should I call the channel this is almost like my origin story so I kind of looked about in all my books and wrote down some names and decided that Alex Kilby talks photography he sounded a bit dry and dull right and I didn't really want my name at the time attached to it in case it was a massive failure no I didn't I didn't say that right and then I turned to that that book that we keep showing up on the screen here the photographer's eye and as a long-time viewers of the channel may know I have a tendency to misspell things and misremember things and mispronounce things so when I went down to write the name for the channel in the little name box on YouTube I wrote instead of the photographer's eye the photographic eye TPU and and here we are today so how's it how's it right and it was wonderful to sit and realize that there are people like yourself who absolutely love talking about photography who don't know half the people who I'm talking about most of the time and that's hardly surprising I mean you know a lot of photographers have just a passing you know sort of knowledge of a great many of the people who've gone from the past because well why would you right it's not a failing it's because there isn't anybody or I've been till fairly recently when I'm glad to say that more and more channels have surface talking about photography in a way that not only is interesting and engaging but also they understand how to play the game of YouTube of getting people to see the photographs because that's very important but you know we're building up a library of interesting thought-provoking content that I hope encourages you to discover so much of the richness in the history and the future of photography I'm here on my couch in the lounge in England you know and I don't create the cinematic videos of lots of the landscape photographers they've got this wonderful b-roll and the music and all that kind of stuff it's more homely than that I like to think that it's more like a conversation that we are chatting that we are just around a fire you know having a just a nata as we say here in the UK and hopefully you come away from these these episodes going wow I'd never really thought about something like that or ah I kind of that's a light bulb moment or that photographer who's one picture came up on the screen I doubt person's amazing I want to find out more about that person and this is where I want to issue you almost a challenge to ask for your help because photography on YouTube needs your help that obviously I am one channel amongst many and no doubt you watch a number of other similar channels to this kind of content and even if you kind of just watch a video go that was okay you know it was reasonable give the creator a thumbs up leave a comment saying I enjoyed that now you may not think that in the grand scheme of things that matters a whole heap right but for lots of channels who are smaller and and I include myself in this that you know this channel even there's 125,000 subscribers which is mind-blowingly awesome it's not big channels only not in YouTube terms so we need to help other photographers who are creating content that doesn't necessarily fit into search and doesn't necessarily fall into the kind of the viral video sort of idea to give them as many boosts as we can so liking a video leaving a comment subscribing to them these are all signs that YouTube pick up on go ah more people should be shown this right because there are certain people who like it and one of the benefits for you of course of doing this is that if you watch a video about Ezra Stoller or Edward Weston or somebody else or Lenny Kravitz who T hopper did the other day then YouTube will look at that and go ah okay so you like that content enough to give it a like and I left a comment and just and watched all the way through I am going to try and find you more content like that that I think you'll enjoy the algorithm is not a beast to mess with you YouTube wants to show you content that you enjoy and you can help it by saying look I've watched this all the way through I'd like this and you're also encouraging the content creator themselves to make more of that content there is so much out there in the world of photography that is wonderful that is amazing that we have combined everybody on YouTube have barely scratched the surface I could make videos every single day of the week and eventually collapse in a gibbering wreck in the corner and never even make a dent in the wonderful things that we can discuss and think and enjoy in photography I'm lucky enough that this channel gives me a financial reward that allows me to devote myself full time to creating content for you to enjoy it means a great deal to me that you have supported me that that you have enjoyed watching the videos that I have made the goods the mediocre and sometimes the very bad videos but throughout it all we're adding to this common depository of of knowledge I would encourage you if you want to do something similar if you feel that you have an opinion a voice or an idea or an interest within photography that you want to share with others then do so you never know where it's going to actually lead to you I am so more fulfilled with photography these days because of the very action of sharing my expertise who knows if it's expertise right of my enjoyment with you and I have to say just a huge thank you that is that's like the very long-winded origin story of the photographic I it is here for you and without you then it's just me sitting in a lounge talking to a camera worrying about the the f-15s ramping up their engines at Lake and Heath and that's a clue about where I kind of live right and you know creating content just for the sheer pleasure of talking about photography if you haven't done so already please hit the subscribe button and get loads of these videos direct to your homepage every week I have to say thank you ever so much for watching and I will see you again soon