Welcome to The Long Look Letters

Photographs, places, and the threads between them.

Hi there, I’m Paul. After twenty years in marketing, I am putting my attention where it has always wanted to go. Photography and short essays about place, light, and the quieter parts of being human. Expect slow travel notes, city corners, and practical field craft. How a frame was made. What I looked for and what I learned, including the misses.

I left the marketing world in late 2022 to focus on photography and writing. Since then I have shown work in more than thirty-five exhibitions, including four solo shows in New York City. The real work has been the learning. Lots of soul-searching. Lots of rejection forcing me to accept that I was not immediately great with a camera or on the page. My goal is to share what I have learned and what I am still learning, warts and all.

Early morning, Miami Beach

In a nutshell, you will see:

• Essays anchored in a real scene

• Behind-the-frame notes (position, timing, edit choices)

• Process pieces (simple techniques that mattered to me and might help you)

• Contact sheets with the keeper and the near-misses

Cadence: 1 to 2 posts a month. It’s free. No growth hacks. No gear wars. Just useful, honest notes.

First up later this week. A short piece from Sensō-ji in Tokyo. Incense. Ben Folds Five’s “Smoke” and letting go.

If you are here from LinkedIn or Instagram, thank you for giving me a minute. Hit reply and tell me where you are reading from, or what you would like me to cover next.

Thanks for reading.
Paul