Dan Winters’ new book – Periodical photographs

Dan Winters has been one of my favourite photographers for some time now. I always considered him to be a master photographer, but I was surprised that he’s still quite young – only 38 I guess. What I like very much about Dan Winters is that he found a very special way how he uses light and how he shows his subjects. When I see a picture of him a can tell immediately that it must be his, and that is a quality and uniqueness you don’t find too often. He says:

“As photographers, we are hired for our opinions to a certain extent. It will be a visual take, a very subjective interpretation,” says Winters. “I really think the strongest ally (above any technique) any photographer can have is the ability to really look at something and formulate an opinion about it. My goal is to have enough freedom with my clients to know that I am using my judgment in the best way I can, and that they know I’m working hard for them.”

His subjects, he says, have compared sitting for him to ”going to the dentist. But in a good way. Not having root canal. Maybe just having X rays done.”

And there is another thing that is really special about Dan Winters: it seems that he does extremely tight edits, which means that he only sends 1 (!) picture to the magazine after a shoot. This is consistency!

When doing some research for this post I also came across of a lot of illustrations he also does, not only photographic illustrations but also hand-drawings. He’s really talented whith transforming strories and complex circumstances into interesting and sometimes even funny illustrations. Must be a big pleasure for an art director to work with him.

That last one is from a cool story for WIRED.

Now, Mr. Winters has a new book out called “Periodical Photographs” that shows is assignement work.

One of my favourite spreads:

Over at WTJ you find a flip-through through the book… I guess for people interested in book design and great portraits, this book will be a must have.

More articles on the book here and here.

PDN call him a legend and have a nice online presentation with interview here.

A last cite:

“I get up every day and that’s what I do, make photographs, whether I’m being paid to or not. I love it, love it, love it.”

More Links:

@ ppmag

http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2007/10/08/oh-god-not-dan-winters-again/

http://jankesnergallery.com/jkgartists/winters-dan.html

http://www.lamag.com/article.aspx?id=16884

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS IN THIS POST  COPYRIGHT DAN WINTERS.