"Forget the rules"
When I was 16, Eve gave me my first camera and a lesson in photography. I still have the camera. It’s a beautiful old Nikon FE (second image.)
One of the things she said that stuck with me was:
“Learn the rules and then forget them.”
Eve explained that I needed to learn the technical details of how to use the camera, how to compose a frame, how to use light etc but that taking great photographs was not something that could be taught by rules.
She explained to me that in her early days as a photographer she tried things out that you weren’t supposed to.
“I didn’t know the rules and what ‘couldn’t be done.’” she told me. “So I went ahead and tried things out.”
A good example of this is her very first photo story: Fashion in Harlem, 1950. At the time all fashion photography was highly produced, scripted and studios lit. Eve stumbled upon something new and fresh because she came with a beginners eye that wasn’t tainted by “how things should be done.”
“What drove me and kept me going over the decades?” Eve asked in her book: In Retrospect (1995) “What was the motive force? If I had to use a single word, it would be ‘curiosity.’ Curiosity was a constant challenge. The very unpredictability of photography enthralled me. The possibilities were endless.”
Starting on Monday I’m doing an email series called “21 days of Eve”. Every weekday (apart from bank holidays) I’ll write an email about Eve, her work and her life. I’ll try to include personal stories and how she has inspired me. I hope you enjoy reading these stories and I hope they inspire you also.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings as we go along, as well as anything you’d like me to talk about. You can hit reply on any of the emails to send me a message during the 21-day series.
To forgetting the rules!
Michael Arnold
Photo: Behind the scenes. Fashion show, Abyssinian Baptist Church. Harlem, New York. 1950. © #EveArnold / @MagnumPhotos
