The refinery map
- Crude oil = reality (messy, infinite, noisy, overwhelming)
- Refinery = you (your eye, body position, timing, taste, courage)
- Products = photographs (different “fuels” for different uses)
The refining stages (practical, not poetic)
- Extraction (mining the moment)
You show up. You hunt. You get close. You take risk. No presence, no raw material. - Distillation (selection)
Most reality is sludge. You remove 99%. You keep the few frames with charge. - Cracking (composition)
You break chaos into geometry: edges, intervals, negative space, horizon discipline, timing. - Purification (light + exposure)
You strip out mud: clean highlights, intentional shadows, controlled contrast. - Additives (style)
Your “signature octane”: focal length preference, flash/no-flash, color palette, grain, cropping habits. - Distribution (publishing)
A refinery that doesn’t ship is just a museum. The feed, the book, the wall—this is the pipeline.
The “product line” (like gas/kerosene/diesel)
- Gasoline: street bangers that move people fast (impact, punch, scroll-stopping)
- Kerosene: intimate portraits that light a room (tenderness, humanity, soul)
- Diesel: documentary sets that power institutions (truth, evidence, history)
- Jet fuel: iconic images that travel globally (symbols, memes, archetypes)
The Rockefeller move (for photographers)
Rockefeller didn’t just produce—he standardized and distributed.
For you:
- Standardize your process: same walk routes, same lens, same rules, same editing ritual.
- Control your pipeline: your site, your email list, your book, your prints—don’t rely on one platform.
- Scale through constraints: one camera, one lens, one look → faster decisions → more output → stronger brand.
The brutal truth (and the power)
Reality is cheap. Attention is expensive.
Your job is to refine reality into attention-worthy meaning.
If you want, I can give you a “refinery operating system” in 10 rules (shooting + editing + publishing) that turns everyday walks into a consistent stream of keepers.