About this website
This one-page website was put online in Spring 2021 because the “About” page at TCQ had to point to the author of TCQ, and that’s me.
There’s not a lot to see here right now. I intend to post by October some very short written pieces on media/photography/trust issues (they’re not quite short enough to publish yet). After that I might post some photographs, even knowing that the world isn't clamoring to see more of those.
There is more on the creation of TCQ further down this page.
There’s not a lot to see here right now. I intend to post by October some very short written pieces on media/photography/trust issues (they’re not quite short enough to publish yet). After that I might post some photographs, even knowing that the world isn't clamoring to see more of those.
There is more on the creation of TCQ further down this page.
About my career
This is where I’m supposed to say that I’ve won countless awards and my 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.
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.
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.
Gradually more and more people will realize 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.
With 300-plus pages, TCQ is now the largest website in the world dedicated entirely to issues of photo manipulation. I consider myself very fortunate to have found such a wonderful problem.
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.
Gradually more and more people will realize 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.
With 300-plus pages, TCQ is now the largest website in the world dedicated entirely to issues of photo manipulation. I consider myself very fortunate to have found such a wonderful problem.
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.
I carry a smartphone and use it for snaps, but for keeper-type photos I always have with me a standalone camera, whether film or digital. Obviously standalone cameras are more cumbersome and less discreet than smartphones, and smartphones can produce great-looking photos. But photography isn’t just about “how the photo looks” anymore, and I’m a single-exposure kind of guy who prefers to know about, and have control over, what is done to each photograph after I take it. (Smartphones heavily process photos – and combine multiple exposures – in myriad ways that the user is completely unaware of and cannot disable.)
I carry a smartphone and use it for snaps, but for keeper-type photos I always have with me a standalone camera, whether film or digital. Obviously standalone cameras are more cumbersome and less discreet than smartphones, and smartphones can produce great-looking photos. But photography isn’t just about “how the photo looks” anymore, and I’m a single-exposure kind of guy who prefers to know about, and have control over, what is done to each photograph after I take it. (Smartphones heavily process photos – and combine multiple exposures – in myriad ways that the user is completely unaware of and cannot disable.)
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’ll try to answer via email as many questions about TCQ as I have time to answer.
If you have a question about TCQ that’s likely to already have been answered, please use the search box on the tcq.photos website; that will save you time compared to waiting for a reply.
If you have a question about TCQ that’s likely to already have been answered, please use the search box on the tcq.photos website; that will save you time compared to waiting for a reply.
“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