Comments on: The Quest for 1 Million Photos: Interview with Thomas Hawk

By: Deep

Deep — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:44:21 +0000

Fantastic interview and wonderful quest. I especially appreciate Mr. Hawk’s focus on the work, and not the details of making money of it.

By: Bethany

Bethany — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:42:27 +0000

That’s amazing – and what is even more amazing is the fact that his photos rock! Normally when people undertake something like this their work suffers and it sucks. Not his – it’s awesome. This is amazing. thank you for sharing this. – Beth

By: Diana Peterson

Diana Peterson — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:14:30 +0000

Been able to watch the passion of this admirable man over many years. It will always be a struggle to balance family and our passions. I know his children well and they love their dad very much he has had a lot of amazing experiences with them. His wife is a remarkable person. When you live with a person with such passion you have to have incredible strength and she does.

By: Jennifer Moore

Jennifer Moore — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:33:53 +0000

What a cool interview!

I think your installation ideas are fascinating! Good luck seeing all of this through!

I can definitely relate to having to carry a full time job and do the art on the side. Kudos!

By: Jamila Tazewell

Jamila Tazewell — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:55:46 +0000

Thank you Chris for interviewing Mr Hawk – his work is gorgeous , the goal is inspiring (understatements), and hearing a little bit about his life behind the lens is really really comforting to hear – because aren’t we all trying to find balance– especially those with BIG dreams and ( seemingly) too little time?! Keep on keeping up and thank you for the openness and the inspiration.

By: Ceil

Ceil — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 02:10:27 +0000

Loved the comments and I love the passion Thomas puts in to his art. So great!

By: Wyman

Wyman — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:17:15 +0000

Thomas,

Great work. Opening up a little about your personal life may have given the impression you don’t spend any time with the family. I read several places in your story about playing with kids and traveling together. I’m sure you regularly re-evaluate how you spend your time and stay in balance. Keep being a Linchpin.

By: Damien Franco

Damien Franco — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:26:44 +0000

Great choice in interviewing Thomas Hawk.

He’s been a great photography personality on the web for a while sharing his work, experiences, and opinions (often controversial but mostly helpful) and deserves the attention.

It’s his passion, drive, and desire that inspires many of his followers to push forward on their own paths and to reach their goals on their own terms. It’s how art, in today’s world, should be; raw, hard, and real.

By: Thomas Hawk

Thomas Hawk — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:58:27 +0000

Raam, I rely heavily actually on voice recording for the stories that come with my photos. I used to try to write down details after shooting a person. Their name, where they are from, their story, etc. Now I’ll typically pull out my iPhone and record a voice memo detailing all of the information I’ve collected after I’m done shooting them and move on. Later when I publish the photo I’ll go back to those recording snippets and use them to write a more complete story regarding our engagement.

My iPhone has actually become a tremendous tool for me in my photography. I’ve been using the camera on the phone more and certainly the mapping and recording functionality is helpful.

By: Thomas Hawk

Thomas Hawk — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:55:35 +0000

Hey Tochi, unfortunately I think it’s hard for my wife and kids. I feel guilty sometimes because the kids will say that I’m always on my laptop or that they don’t want to go on another photowalk. Somtimes they can get very impatient if I take a route somewhere that’s a bit out of the way to shoot something. I give them lots of attention as well, but with 5 others in our family they always want more. I try to manage the best that I can though. I’m not sure that there is any easy answer to the conflict between doing something like this and family.

In some cases for photographers in the past it quite simply hasn’t worked out. W. Eugene Smith, the famous photographer, pretty much ended up abandoning his family entirely to pursue his work. That’s sad.

There’s a famous photograph made by Robert Frank when he was shooting The Americans entitled, U.S. 90, en route to Del Rio http://i42.tinypic.com/2ep57jm.jpg that’s always resonated with me regarding the difficulty of managing.