About Michael Webster

I am a photographer currently living in Brooklyn. I studied photojournalism with Will Counts at Indiana University in the early 80's. Counts taught classic photojournalism straight out of the FSA project and Life Magazine. We studied a lot of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Dorthea Lange, and W. Eugene Smith among others. Those earliest influences remain the strongest. Intellectually, at least.

I chose, however, not to pursue photography after graduation. I think the main reason was that I didn't have what it takes to be a daily news photographer. By that I mean I couldn't bring myself to be a big enough asshole to get in peoples' faces who don't want to be photographed and photograph them anyway. I can do it on occasion, but not every day. Still, I continued to enjoy photography over the years. Mostly it was nature and family stuff, but occasionally I'd publish a photo or two to go along with a freelance article I'd written.

I became serious again a few years after moving to New York at the turn of the century and have been hard at it ever since. I spent many years working alone, outside of any photographic culture or tradition in order to find my own aesthetic. Of course I produced a lot of embarrassing crap during those years, but eventually got to a point (the first Coney Island Beach project) where I felt I knew who I was and had the skills to realize a vision. Then, I began studying contemporary photographers, interacting with the community, and publishing again.

Although I have plenty of influences, it's never occurred to me to try to be like anyone else. Not that I don't learn a bit of technique from anyone and everyone. I keep a lookout for the decisive moment in fluid situations. Hours spent contemplating the painters of the Hudson valley school and Goya's black paintings gave me a deep appreciation for deep black shadows. Post-impressionist types, particularly Paul Gauguin, led me down the path of color theory. And great writers, well, I've read a few. So in general, I like well-composed images with deep blacks and contrasting colors in the context of literary-type stories. If the universe and I can successfully collaborate to get all that in front of me, great. That's what I'm going for.

Of course I'm still learning and experimenting and have a lot of room for growth to become a better photographer and visual storyteller. This website is, as the cliché goes, a work in progress. It contains links to some of my recently published work, some random stuff, and a few unpublished projects that I will make available to prospective publishers. But unfortunately, perhaps, I have neither the time nor inclination to do web work all day, so it will probably remain pretty rough.

Please click around as much as you like and feel free to contact me if you have any questions, would like to see more work, or would like to discuss any possible assignments. I'm available for most anything in New York (I know the shooting conditions well) and could possibly be available for something more distant.

Welcome and regards,