About my mission
I am a photographer. But quite apart from any photographs I create, my larger mission is to celebrate photography’s unique role in society, in culture, in history, and in individual lives — a role that no other medium can match.
In the 21st century, photography clearly is not just about “how the photo looks” anymore, and I spend a lot of my time exploring what that epochal change means for photography's future.
The most prominent expression of my exploration so far is tcq.photos (“A ‘Nonfiction’ label for photographs”), which at 300+ pages is the largest website in the world dedicated entirely to issues of photo manipulation. But I’m working on additional projects in the “Why Photography Will Always Matter” vein, with a goal of rolling those out at the beginning of 2023.
Until then, this website is mainly an introductory placeholder and not a vast repository of exciting content that warrants multiple return visits. (Sorry!)
In the 21st century, photography clearly is not just about “how the photo looks” anymore, and I spend a lot of my time exploring what that epochal change means for photography's future.
The most prominent expression of my exploration so far is tcq.photos (“A ‘Nonfiction’ label for photographs”), which at 300+ pages is the largest website in the world dedicated entirely to issues of photo manipulation. But I’m working on additional projects in the “Why Photography Will Always Matter” vein, with a goal of rolling those out at the beginning of 2023.
Until then, this website is mainly an introductory placeholder and not a vast repository of exciting content that warrants multiple return visits. (Sorry!)
About my career
This is where photographers are supposed to say that they’ve won countless awards and their photos are in private collections and museums around the world. And I could say that, but it wouldn’t exactly be true. (OK, it wouldn’t be at all true.)
Granted, I’ve spent my career making a living as a photographer or a graphic designer and often both. But most of that time I’ve just been doing what normal people do: trying to please clients, employers, and colleagues; working on my craft; earning a living; and striving to become a better person.
None of that is very glamorous, but it’s the truth.
Granted, I’ve spent my career making a living as a photographer or a graphic designer and often both. But most of that time I’ve just been doing what normal people do: trying to please clients, employers, and colleagues; working on my craft; earning a living; and striving to become a better person.
None of that is very glamorous, but it’s the truth.
About my photography
I’ve been photographing since 1978. Like most professional photographers, I largely went “digital” in the early 2000s. I calculate that I’ve taken more than a million digital photos since then, almost all of them unexceptional corporate- and non-profit photographs commissioned by others and — when published — without bylines, but I also still shoot a lot of film (35mm, 6x12, and 8x10).
When shooting for myself, I prefer to photograph things that I want to see more of in the world: beauty, order, brilliance, understatement, meaning, subtlety, quiet, kindness, gratitude, optimism, hope.
I have committed my life to photography because (as the TCQ website makes clear) I am awed by the timeless power of “the undoctored record of what one person saw, in one small corner of the world, at one unrepeatable moment in time.”
When shooting for myself, I prefer to photograph things that I want to see more of in the world: beauty, order, brilliance, understatement, meaning, subtlety, quiet, kindness, gratitude, optimism, hope.
I have committed my life to photography because (as the TCQ website makes clear) I am awed by the timeless power of “the undoctored record of what one person saw, in one small corner of the world, at one unrepeatable moment in time.”
About TCQ
“A wonderful problem to have”
In late 1996 I gingerly set out to tackle the biggest problem in the history of photography:
“How can people decide which photos to trust now that they can no longer judge just by looking?”
The problem was hugely daunting but also hugely appealing.
“Daunting” because a solution to “photography’s biggest problem” would be of worldwide relevance (photography is now the world’s most universal language).
“Appealing” because it appeared that the solution might be attainable by one person, drawing entirely on information that was available to everyone.
That combination of factors made it a problem of a kind so rare that it might come along only once in a lifetime — a wonderful problem to have.
Quite helpfully, I learned of a “globally-relevant-but-solvable-by-one-person” problem that had been worked out not long before. In 1994 an Oxford mathematician named Andrew Wiles had, after 8 years of solitary toil, finally solved a world-famous 300-year-old math problem that he had first heard about three decades earlier, when he was only 10 years old.
Wiles’ experience provided crucial inspiration and guidance for privately tackling a public problem of this magnitude. I was on my way, although I had no idea that it would take 25 years to finish.
The TCQ website picks up the story there | PBS interview with Andrew Wiles
“How can people decide which photos to trust now that they can no longer judge just by looking?”
The problem was hugely daunting but also hugely appealing.
“Daunting” because a solution to “photography’s biggest problem” would be of worldwide relevance (photography is now the world’s most universal language).
“Appealing” because it appeared that the solution might be attainable by one person, drawing entirely on information that was available to everyone.
That combination of factors made it a problem of a kind so rare that it might come along only once in a lifetime — a wonderful problem to have.
Quite helpfully, I learned of a “globally-relevant-but-solvable-by-one-person” problem that had been worked out not long before. In 1994 an Oxford mathematician named Andrew Wiles had, after 8 years of solitary toil, finally solved a world-famous 300-year-old math problem that he had first heard about three decades earlier, when he was only 10 years old.
Wiles’ experience provided crucial inspiration and guidance for privately tackling a public problem of this magnitude. I was on my way, although I had no idea that it would take 25 years to finish.
The TCQ website picks up the story there | PBS interview with Andrew Wiles
What’s next for TCQ?
Because it is designed for photography’s future — not for its past or present — TCQ is hardly known at all yet. It was rolled out with a simple 20-word announcement in April 2021, since which time I have publicly said no more about it. For now, TCQ is just quietly waiting for someone to discover it.
But after living with the subject for 25 years, I see no hurry. Every year more photographs are taken than in the year before, so especially as we enter an age of skepticism about the media, the need will only grow for a way to identify which photographs can be trusted.
Eventually augmented-reality technology will be commonplace in smartphone cameras (“Tap to replace the sky with a more dramatic one”; “Tap to replace the buildings with a grove of trees”), at which time the last few holdouts will acknowledge that photography has changed forever: it will never again be only about “How the photo looks.”
TCQ’s “Nonfiction label for photographs” will always be there, free for anyone to use.
But after living with the subject for 25 years, I see no hurry. Every year more photographs are taken than in the year before, so especially as we enter an age of skepticism about the media, the need will only grow for a way to identify which photographs can be trusted.
Eventually augmented-reality technology will be commonplace in smartphone cameras (“Tap to replace the sky with a more dramatic one”; “Tap to replace the buildings with a grove of trees”), at which time the last few holdouts will acknowledge that photography has changed forever: it will never again be only about “How the photo looks.”
TCQ’s “Nonfiction label for photographs” will always be there, free for anyone to use.
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 my gear
There aren’t many brands of digital or film cameras that I haven’t used over the years, so when asked “Have you shot with x brand?” my answer is usually yes. ALL tools that make photographs are miracles to me, so I’m not a good person to ask about which tools to buy.
About contacting me
I’ve tried over the Internet era to keep a low profile online (e.g., no social media), and I am grateful to those who have helped me maintain that. I don’t do audio or video interviews, but I’m willing to have exchanges via email as time permits.
(If you have a question specifically about TCQ, please first use the search box on the tcq.photos website; that could save both of us time.)
(If you have a question specifically about TCQ, please first use the search box on the tcq.photos website; that could save both of us time.)
“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
while drawing as LITTLE attention to yourself as possible.”
— What my mom taught me about goals