John Rosenmiller on Cuba, Self-Editing and Becoming a Better Photographer
About this episode
John Rosenmiller discusses his journey into photography, his experiences in Cuba, and the importance of self-editing.
John Rosenmiller didn't set out to become a photographer. In fact, it wasn't until later in life that he realized something was missing: he'd done a lot of things, but he'd never done anything purely creative. Photography changed that. And Cuba gave him a place to explore it. In this conversation, John joins Street Photography Magazine's Bob Patterson and Ashley Riffo to talk about the many trips that have taken him deep into Cuban life and eventually led to his striking Carboneros de Cuba series. When John first arrived in Havana, its chaos, characters and raw energy reminded him of the New York he knew in the 1970s and '80s. He kept going back, building relationships, following his curiosity and learning photography along the way. Upon seeing his photos one photographer wrote in to tell us, “This is more than good, this is a labor of love.” John is refreshingly candid about that learning process. He talks about the years it took him to feel comfortable calling himself a photographer, why realizing his early work wasn't very good actually helped him improve, and why photographers should be ruthless about what they choose to show. We also dig into how he creates his nighttime…
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