Musing Correspondence - 9/16/2025

My Dear Friend,

A trail of breadcrumbs led me to this quote in a letter written by Minor White “the photograph is an external record of inward growth”. While written by Minor the quote seems to be a summary of Edward Weston’s philosophy on photography. I could find no direct quotation to either man outside of the letter from which I extracted it so I’m going to correlate it to both of these photographic masters from hence forth as it is the perfect summation of my photographic theory and will likely be referenced in the future. 

From the theoretical side of my work I have certainly done a fair amount of polishing in recent years but there is still a lifetime of refining to be done on what I am sure will be an ever evolving creature. Regrettably, it makes me feel inadequate to admit that my artistic philosophy is still in an infantile state but I can say the same for my identity. This is in all likelihood why this quote sang so harmoniously for me in the first place. I’ve realized, again in recent years, the parallel between my personal and artistic growth and finally found some solid ground upon which to build a foundation for both in what will likely become a duplex. I’ve actually found that my photography has been the model for the personal side of the development and looking back through the years I can see the writing in the frames. This has certainly given me confidence in both aspects as well as some momentum with which to move forward. 

I finally reached a place in my journey where I have begun to seek the wisdom of other photographers. Again, I have to regrettably admit that for so long I refrained from such research in fear that it would introduce bias to my eye and while I still fear such influence I’ve focused my search on theory more than imagery. I have no problem with viewers attributing my philosophy to other photographers whereas I fear this endeavor would crumble should the same thing occur with my work. I dread the thought of producing a piece that becomes an accidental tribute to a photo I’ve studied in passing. Photography is the one thing about me that has always felt authentic and I would like to keep it that way because, as I have mentioned, it is helping me cement the structure of my identity simultaneously. This brings me back to the quote I began with. 

This is all a long way of saying I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment of Minor and Edward and it is also thanks to them that I am writing to you in this manner. In my research I have enjoyed reading the letters to and from the likes of Edward Weston, Minor White, Ansel Adams, Alfred Stieglitz and the like and found it to be a wise way to think through ideas, in my case photography related ones but I’m sure others from time to time as well. Their letters have inspired me to follow in their footsteps and so hello to you my dear friend, I hope you will do me the honor of receiving my unraveling thoughts. 

I have no expectations of you other than to assuage my need to think out loud from time to time but should you ever feel the need to write back I will be grateful to hear from you. I wish for you all the best.

Sincerely,

Justin