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As most of you know, I worked for Playboy Magazine for over 40 years, 35 of those as Photography Director. One would think that in that length of time, I would have learned all there was to know about my job. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Nearly every day presented a new situation, a new challenge, something that I had not previously encountered. And at the end of each day on my drive home, I might think

Well, I’ve learned to handle that sort of problem from what happened to me today.” However, there was always a new wrinkle to the next problem or something completely new that somehow had never arisen previously.

One day it dawned on me that I would never stop learning, that learning was a continuing part of any endeavor. Even at the highest levels of achievement, nothing is ever completely mastered whether you’re a chef, a writer, an editor, a photographer. Name the profession and there’s always something even an expert doesn’t know.

Patrick Demarchelier

“Even at the highest levels of achievement, nothing is ever completely mastered”So how does one continue to learn? Experience is a great teacher. Repetition is a major factor. I recently read that one major league baseball player didn’t feel he was properly prepared to play a game unless he had taken at least 500 practice swings in the practice cage before a game. Is photography any different? Doesn’t repetition ingrain the basic skills needed until they become second-nature.

Experimentation is another essential element in the learning process. Always shoot the same thing in the same pose in the same light and you’ll not only be bored, you’ll stop learning. Question what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Break the rules. Break your own rules.

Herb Ritts

About Gary Cole

Emulate or imitate, if you prefer. Was there ever a good writer who wasn’t first an astute reader? A good painter who hadn’t first studied the masters? As I mentioned at the seminar, I recently read a book written by Arnold Samuelson entitled “With Hemingway—A Year in Key West and Cuba.” Samuelson was an aspiring writer who rode freight trains down to Key West so that he could talk to Hemingway about the art of writing.

Richard Avedon

““You can’t be a good writer until you have at least read these. It occurred to me that the same thing is true in photography.”He wound up spending a year with Hemingway. One of the first things Hemingway did was write down a list of books Samuelson should have read and been familiar with. “You can’t be a good writer until you have at least read these.” It occurred to me that the same thing is true in photography. If you aren’t familiar with, haven’t studied the work of the great photographers, you’re unlikely to become a very good photographer.

So I have assembled a list. It’s quite a long list and certainly not complete. You are welcome to offer to make additions. I have no doubt that if you spent some time looking at the work of these photographers, you would learn something, perhaps many somethings. None of us is too smart or too old not to continue to learn. So have at it.

In No Particular Order:

Helmut Newton

And, of course, there is always the over 50 years of Playboy glamour photography to study plus the work of our STC photographers. With the internet, the work is easily accessible. What excuse do you have for not learning something today?

~ Gary Cole

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