About TEG
I have been a photographer for more than 40 years. In the mid-1990s I became fascinated by the radical changes occurring in my favorite medium as it entered the digital age.
The more I read and thought about those changes, the more that one question kept coming up: “How do we as a culture decide which photos we can trust, now that we can no longer judge just by looking?”
The question seems simple, but it took 25 years to come up with an answer I found satisfactory. The result, a website now known as TEG, was launched in April 2021 and updated in the summer of 2023 to respond to innovations in AI-generated imaging that had occurred over the intervening two years.
Just as TEG was my fixation for the 2000s and 2010s, I am now concentrating on another media/culture-related project that will run through the 2020s and 2030s. If things go according to plan, details will appear here in 2024. Or maybe 2025. All in good time.
The more I read and thought about those changes, the more that one question kept coming up: “How do we as a culture decide which photos we can trust, now that we can no longer judge just by looking?”
The question seems simple, but it took 25 years to come up with an answer I found satisfactory. The result, a website now known as TEG, was launched in April 2021 and updated in the summer of 2023 to respond to innovations in AI-generated imaging that had occurred over the intervening two years.
Just as TEG was my fixation for the 2000s and 2010s, I am now concentrating on another media/culture-related project that will run through the 2020s and 2030s. If things go according to plan, details will appear here in 2024. Or maybe 2025. All in good time.
About my photography
For clients, most of my photography has consisted of unbylined corporate-type work in the nonprofit sector. Those images are relevant to each client and each specific application, but they are of roughly zero general interest so I am not reproducing them on this website.
For my personal photography, I try to focus only on things that I want to see more of in the world: expressions of beauty, order, meaning, quiet, kindness, gratitude, optimism, hope....
For my personal photography, I try to focus only on things that I want to see more of in the world: expressions of beauty, order, meaning, quiet, kindness, gratitude, optimism, hope....
About gear
Digital: For clients, since 2003 I’ve shot digital only, going through five successive 24x36mm cameras of various brands over those 20 years and racking up more than a million photos.
Film: For any personal work beyond snapshots, I try to shoot film as much as possible.
Film: For any personal work beyond snapshots, I try to shoot film as much as possible.
About my first name (Micah)
Not every name comes with a mission statement, but I’ve always felt that my name sort of did. It’s tied to a fairly well-known Bible verse: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
I’ve tried to keep those four charges — be fair, be kind, be humble, be faithful — as a tidy little set of aspirations, however unattainable or unrealistic they may be.
I’ve tried to keep those four charges — be fair, be kind, be humble, be faithful — as a tidy little set of aspirations, however unattainable or unrealistic they may be.
About contacting me
I’ve tried over the Internet era to keep a low profile online (e.g., no posting on social media), and I am grateful to those who have helped me maintain that. The best way to connect with me is via email.
If you have a question specifically about TEG, please first use the search box on the teg.photos website; that could save both of us time.
To date I have always been based in Chicago (USA), where I was born.
If you have a question specifically about TEG, please first use the search box on the teg.photos website; that could save both of us time.
To date I have always been based in Chicago (USA), where I was born.
“Do as MUCH as you can to make others’ lives better
while drawing as LITTLE attention to yourself as possible.”
— What my mom taught me about goals