Sam Abell is one of the most famous American photographers of the 20th century, particularly known for his frequent work for National Geographic. This awesome full-length documentary will teach you vast amounts about what it means to take a photograph.
Coming to you from National Geographic, thisdocumentary take a look at the life and work of photographer Sam Abell. Abell was born in Sylvania, Ohio (near Toldeo) in 1945. His father ran a small photography club, and after a photo he took while with him won a prize, he was hooked, eventually becoming the photographer for his high school yearbook and newspaper. He first worked with National Geographic in 1967. He would go on to become known for his unique style, working on over 20 articles for National Geographic. In 1990, Eastman Kodak a retrospective of his work.
Abell has clearly amassed an incredible amount of wisdom and knowledge in his time as a photographer, and he shares it in many ways here, from simple techniques he uses to capture the images he wants to more macroscale philosophical discussions of what he tries to depict and evoke in his audience and how subtle aspects that may seem inconsequential actually have a large impact. It's well worth taking the time to watch the documentary.
I had the opportunity to meet him in person once. Very nice guy, and completely willing to share his knowledge with anyone. I really want to take one of his master classes.
This teaching video by Sam is outstanding. I recommend everyone here watch it.
I did a workshop with Sam a number of years ago. It was incredible. Both his verbal and photographic storytelling skills are fantastic. He held our class rapt for three days. I was entertained, inspired and learned a ton. Looking forward to checking this out!