The Best Photography Advice I Ever Received Had Nothing to Do With a Camera
How 14 hours with Magnum photographer Paolo Pellegrin changed my understanding of what makes exceptional images
In 2011, I spent a full day with renowned Magnum photographer Paolo Pellegrin.
He and a small group of other members of the storied photo agency came to Fresno, CA, as part of Magnum's Postcards From America tour, where they visited cities throughout the US and culminated each stop with a pop-up exhibition featuring their images as postcards and prints.
When they announced the tour locations, they included an open call for volunteers to help with driving and local knowledge. I responded immediately to offer my assistance and received details a few days before the shoot.
A Day With a Master Photographer
On the morning of the shoot, I left San Jose at 6am for the 2.5-hour drive to California's Central Valley, arriving at a small Fresno hotel around 8:30am. In the lobby, photographers and Magnum personnel were organizing themselves and deciding who would work with whom.
Paolo introduced himself and explained what he wanted to accomplish that day. He asked if I'd drive him around to connect with contacts he'd researched before the trip. I agreed, telling him I had plenty of flexibility.
My “flexibility” turned into almost 14 unforgettable hours.
We drove throughout Fresno and its outskirts, stopping for 2-3 hours at a time as Paolo embedded himself within different scenes and documented the people. We interacted with 4-5 different groups, each encounter like a mini-assignment.
The Hidden Truth Behind Exceptional Images
Toward the end of this marathon day, with most of Paolo's photographic plans behind us, our conversation turned to building a career with a camera, the changing industry, and some of his favorite assignments. I asked:
"Paolo, with photography being so different today than when you started - with the internet, digital cameras, and social media - what advice would you give your younger self if you were starting out now?"
He appreciated the question and paused for just a moment to collect his thoughts as a stoplight turned from red to green.
"Obviously you need to work on your craft," he acknowledged, "always improving the technical aspects of how you use your camera, its settings, the lenses... become proficient with the tools so you don't think about the tools. Learn to see light, keep re-learning to see light and how to use light."
But then he took it a step further and shared some insight that would forever change how I thought about photography:
"But more so, work on yourself as a person. Everything you do - all of the books you read, people you talk to, relationships you build, cinema you watch... all of your morals, beliefs and convictions... all of it translates into your ability to create exceptional pictures. Why you compose an image the way you do, why you raise your camera to your eye in the first place, whether you shoot something low or high, wide or tight. Everything you are as a human correlates to how you interpret a scene."
When Technical Excellence Isn't Enough
In my early career, I was obsessed with technical mastery - hurrying to perfect my understanding of f-stops and shutter speeds, thinking that was the key to landing magazine assignments. I thought if I could just memorize every button on my camera, make sure to get the right thing in focus and perfect my lighting techniques, I'd graduate to a "professional" level.
But Paolo's wisdom illuminated a deeper truth: technical excellence is merely the baseline. Mastering the tool does not mean mastering the craft. The real differentiator - the factor that separates good photographers from great ones - is the depth of the person behind the camera.
This explains why two photographers can stand in the same spot, use identical equipment, and create entirely different images. It's not about the camera settings; it's about what each photographer brings to that moment - their experiences, their worldview, their understanding of human nature, their capacity for empathy.
Over the fifteen years since that conversation, I've watched this truth play out repeatedly in my own work. My most successful images aren't the ones with perfect technical execution (though that matters). They're the ones where I brought my full self to the moment - where my understanding of human nature helped me anticipate a gesture, where my genuine curiosity and respect for my subject let me lead with empathy, where my experience with athletics helped me relate to someone I might not have otherwise connected with.
The Unique Voice We Each Possess
This holistic approach to photography - focusing on personal growth alongside technical development - offers powerful insights for creators:
It suggests that time spent reading, traveling, or engaging in deep conversations is as valuable (more valuable?) as time spent practicing with our cameras.
It reminds us that our unique perspectives, passions and experiences aren't distractions from our photography - they're essential ingredients in our creative voice.
It explains why copying another photographer's techniques rarely produces the same results - because technique is just one step of a much deeper creative process.
Most importantly, it reminds us that our identity is our gift to the world, not our camera skills. When you are truly flowing in your identity there is literally no one like you, and only you have the ability to make that picture how you would make it at that particular time and in that particular place.
Identity as Your Creative Signature
When I was a student photographer at our school's newspaper in 2009, I was eager to shoot something "original" and shied away from stories or subjects that had been covered before. After discussing a certain project with my editor and deciding "yeah, but so-and-so already shot that a few years back," he replied, "Yeah, but it wasn't shot by Chad Ziemendorf in 2009."
His point wasn't that I was a master photographer that would "shoot it better" (I wasn't). He was trying to tell me that even though it "had been done," my unique perspective would guarantee that my efforts wouldn't produce a carbon-copy of what was done before. It would undoubtedly be different simply because my collective experiences, passions and beliefs as a human were different from the photographer that explored that topic before.
Investing in the Person Behind the Camera
Paolo's advice that 2011 evening wasn't just about photography - it was about the interconnectedness of art and life. Every book we read, every relationship we nurture, every experience we have becomes part of our photographic toolkit.
Our cameras merely record what we see, but it's our accumulated wisdom and understanding that teaches us where to look and when to press the shutter.
As I continue my journey in photography, this wisdom has become even more relevant today than it was back then. Technical proficiency is essential, but it's the ongoing development of myself as a person that truly advances my work.
Each assignment becomes not just an opportunity to create images, but to bring my full self to serve my clients' needs.
For those just starting their photographic journey, or even veterans seeking to elevate their work, Paolo's wisdom offers a crucial perspective shift: Don't just invest in better equipment or technical training. Invest in yourself. Read widely. Travel boldly. Engage deeply with art and culture. Build meaningful relationships. Develop strong convictions.
Because ultimately, the power of your images won't come from your camera settings - it will come from the richness of the life you bring to each moment you photograph.