All the Great Things are Simple

by Yosuf Karsh

by Skip Cohen

I recently ran across a great quote by Winston Churchill:

"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."

I was thinking about how these words would apply to some of the icons in our industry who we respect the most.  Clearly "honor", "duty" and "hope" stand out, but there are a few other great and simple things these people have that earns our respect and admiration.  How about integrity, focus, sincerity and passion?

Then there are a few photographic terms that jump in when you look at their work.  Single simple words that refer to their images...composition and impact.  Their composition is often so strong, they literally see scenes many of us miss.  Their mind's eye is unique and continuously provides us with images that time and time again cause us to stop, stare and wonder how they saw what we failed to even notice.

Churchill was so right about the simplicity of great things.  The most impressive photographers and people in our industry include many of you who I have yet to meet.  You may not have made the headlines yet, but your passion inspires us.  The new Young Guns are setting the pace and pushing the envelope every day in terms of creativity.  At the same time, the "old dogs" are definitely learning new tricks as technology keeps pushing everybody to the edge of the envelope.  

Great things in photography truly are simple and can be described in single words.

It might be just another Friday morning, but it's never just another day - every day is unique, challenging and who knows what door might open for any of us before today is over!

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