Words by Bill Jay
This is my brief homage to Bill Jay who lived for some years very close to where I have my home, Ocean Beach in San Diego, before retiring few months ago to Costa Rica where he passed away. Unfortunately I never had the chance to meet, but I had the pleasure to read his writings.
I have one of his photo books, “men like me” that is signed and now will not only be a very nice book but a nice remembrance. Lenswork has a special tribute issue with the best writings from his contributions to the magazine and Lenswork Extended has a large portfolio of his work. I got both of them, and I do recommend them to anyone who likes to read smart and genuine writings on photography.
Some quick notes from Bill Jay, published in the Lenswork issue:
True, there are photographers who are failed artists, but so are most artists.
The best photographers know what not to photograph.
The average photographer thinks he is not.
There are two essential guides for becoming a photographer. A camera is desirable but not essential. No ones knows what the second one is.
Studying photography at a University is like learning about women from planned parenthood.
The most extraordinary thing about photography is how it elevates the ordinary.
Also take a look to the posts from Darius Himes and Mary Virginia Swanson about Bill.
[...] thing about photography is how it elevates the ordinary.” – Bill Jay, via Exposure Compensation and [...]
Was fortunate enough to have Bill Jay as my History of Photography professor at ASU…Awesome man…Made an interesting class
truly entertaining!!
I”m slowly making my way through the essays and articles on his site. They are either witty, insightful or historically revealing, and sometimes all of these at once.