Currently browsing Musings

I like chairs. I think humans are the only animal species that creates something to sit on. We seek comfort, a place to rest our weary bones, we were rocked as children and rock our children in them. They are made of wood, metal, plastic, stone, and anything else that can be shaped to fit our form. And yet for some reason, it seems like every empty or abandoned house I have photographed in there ...

Rockin Relics has been the go to meeting place for lunch in Rugby, North Dakota for sine 2006. It is also where the North Dakota Workshop gathers most days for lunch during the workshop. Usually about noon a text message will go out saying “meet me at RR” for lunch. And depending on where folks are working many will head to Rockin Relics for lunch and a break from photographing. The building originally housed two ...

Steps. Staircase. Flight of steps. Set of Steps. Those things we use to walk from one level of a building or landscape to another. They are as varied as their intended uses. They can be grand with a short rise and a long run. They can be steep with a greater rise and narrow run, or they can have their rise and run be equal. However they are made we use them to get to ...

Churches by design are special places. They are places where we try to connect or relate to that which is greater than us. Some churches wrap us in a warm embrace, like a hug from a parent. Others fill us with awe and inspiration. Others are severe, reminding us of the judgment of the all mighty. I am drawn to these places. They are usually the first place I head to  when I find myself ...

Dear Friends If you have visited the Tillman Crane Photography website in the last year you have noticed that we have not been as active as in the past. We hoped to completely redesign our web site but the process is taking longer than anticipated. But I am going to start using part of the site for a new purpose. I am going to revitalize the MUSING section of this site to include weekly thoughts ...

A Project Evolves and an Obsession Ends Back in 2009 I became interested in photographing the Erie Canal. As a project it offered history and historic structures in contemporary use, it covered a sizeable and varied topography and was within a day’s drive of home. The locks and dams on the Tennessee River where I grew up were huge and inaccessible but my first visit to the Erie Canal’s more human scaled locks hooked me ...

Lessons from a Workshop The simple truth about being a photo workshop teacher is this, I usually learn more from my students than they learn from me. I have come to realize that my job is primarily to find interesting places for people to make photographs, make the place accessible as possible, and provide a safe environment for them to work, and then get out of their way. Occasionally then need a piece or two ...

Big Dreams Make Photographers Great Donald Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” raises the question in my mind of “When was America great?” I think it’s a valuable question to mull on. For me, America was great when we dreamed big. In driving to my Virginia workshop I was primarily on the Interstate system of roads. The Interstate system was a big dream, which provided easy transportation for everyone with a car to travel around ...

Close Enough isn’t and Good Enough won’t be I should have two trashcans in my darkroom - one labeled “good enough” and the other “close enough”. When I catch myself thinking a print is “good enough" or “close enough” then the print needs to go into the designated can. This is my own short hand to myself that the print is not up to my standards. It reminds me to question if I’m rushing to get ...

What’s next? I have just had the most amazing experience of my professional life! On November 26th Alchemy of Light opened at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. I was completely unprepared for the experience of walking onto the third floor of the museum to be face-to-face with 30-foot banners of my name and images. My work was grouped into three rooms while a fourth was covered with ceiling to floor pictures of ...