journal
“Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and get to work” - Chuck Close
I've said it many times, but it's worth repeating it every once in a while: we don't take photos because we are inspired, we become inspired because we take photos.
It's by acting and doing that we get motivated and inspired to create meaningful art. Some times, that means we have to push ourselves a little bit to get out and work. While it might sound hard at first, it's always worth it.
I love compact cameras. If you can fit it in your pocket, you can bring it everywhere with you, and that means more chances to shoot, thus better images.
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Andrew from Frozenwaste.land and I sat down (virtually) and had a chat about photography, my new book, and other stuff. Check it out: Becoming an American: Adrian Otero Vila (aows).
In this video, I share a couple of projects that are still "work in progress".
I just went through the images I made almost exactly one year ago at the beautiful Palacio da Pena, in Sintra, Portugal. I'd been to the place many times in the past, but this was my first time as a photographer.
A short video of me editing 5 of my most recent images in Adobe Lightroom CC.
I had a little chat with Sam from The Unrecovering Photography Addict, the result is the interview 30 questions with photographer Adrian Vila. I hope you enjoy it!
I'm a big advocate of new technologies, but also very aware of the dangers of smartphones and always-connected devices in general. While they can be tools of empowerment for artists, they can also be the source of distraction.
A distracted mind can’t take photos. Let’s see how reading can rebuild our capacity to focus and increase our attention span, and how that affects our photography.
Read MoreA little short movie made on a few rainy days.
"There's one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing" - Elbert Hubbard
I thought I had everything figured out. Then I found myself quitting my job, selling all my possessions and moving overseas with my wife. What followed was an adventure that transformed not only who I was, but who I thought I could become. This is the visual story of a journey of becoming.
Becoming an American is a visual autobiography, covering one of the most transformative periods of my life. After 30 years of comfortable and predictable life in Spain, I quit my job, sold everything I owned, and got on a plane to cross the ocean.
I was to travel thousands of miles in the next few years, but the true journey didn't happen on the road, it was within. By embracing the unknown, going well beyond my comfort zone, and experiencing new places, I realized I was able to build a whole new self, from scratch.
The images in the book are the experiences I went through to build a new me. Most of them were neither comfortable nor predictable, but that's what kept me constantly in awe and feeling alive.
I felt free for the first time in my life. I had become an American.
This book was never in my mind when I was capturing those raw moments. Most of the images were never meant for publication, but that's what makes Becoming an American so personal for me.
Becoming an American is available for purchase now. Please allow a couple of weeks for printing and delivery.
The sky isn't where I usually look for images. Most of the time, a dark blue sky or a bright cloudy one are just backgrounds for my subjects.
Lately, though, I've been looking up more closely. I made images of the Moon, the stars and the clouds. Even of clear, blue skies.
At a time when we are confined, the sky makes me feel free and connected to a bigger world beyond the walls of this house.
I'll keep looking up.
I’ve been making images for a few years now. Back when I got started, I had no idea where this passion of mine would lead me. Today, I spend most of my days taking photographs, editing photographs, writing about photography, thinking about photography, talking about photography, studying photography.
While I don't know how long I'll be able to do this full time, I do know that even if I had to get another job to pay the bills, I'd still be doing photography.
This project of mine has grown to the point of being the purpose of my existence: to record what I see in a visual form, and to inspire others to do the same.
As I admitted recently, there's something missing in my work, and there always will. The same way a diary is never finished, I will never be "done" with my images which I consider to be my reflection, a part of me.
This is a life-long project. One I'm extremely excited about.
Photography is easy is a new series of videos based on my eBook of the same name, where I try to debunk a few common myths about photography that I believe cause more harm than good. This time, let's talk about "Experience in photography".
Are you permanently dissatisfied with your work? You are not alone.
Every time I look at my images as a whole, I feel like there’s something missing. I'm in a journey to an unknown place I haven’t reached yet, and probably never will.
I believe that dissatisfaction with one's own work is unavoidable, but also benefitial in the long term: don’t minimize the doubts, feel them, use the insecurity as a catalyst to push you out there, to experiment, to stay a beginner, and become an even better photographer.
I got quite a few questions about how I made my latest movie, "The Night is Dark". I hope to answer most of those in this post and video.
The short version is: I took a lot of shots and put them together in a video.
This is how I did it.
Read MoreI am fascinated by the photographs that the rovers have been sending from the red planet over the years. Mars is beautiful, and I would definitely have a lot of fun making some images there. Unfortunately, the odds of that happening are very low.
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