Photographer: Alex Webb

My dad introduced me to Alex Webb. Well, actually, we got my dad the Alex Webb photography book for father's day because we had heard him talk about Webb before, which then inspired my dad to tell me all about Webb and explain to me why the gift we got him was officially the best gift ever.

But now I have an opinion of my own. I think Alex Webb is, officially, one of the best photographers ever. I know that's an adolescent way of describing my affection for his work, but girlish gushing is a sign of authenticity in my book of emotions. (Did that make sense?)

Anyway, we saw his show at a small gallery on 20th street and I had only a few minutes to swish through the halls before the event closed. It was a collection of photographs he took over many years visiting Istanbul. It was about the juxtaposition of a modernizing society within a highly religious context. And then some.I love his work because it's different. I love his work because I think a lot about cropping and whether information in an image is significant or not, and whether blurriness is a sign of life or laziness, and how emotions on a face tell a larger story than words on a page. These are issues that arise in Webb's work, and it felt like someone had plugged into my brain and produced high-quality, gorgeous images in response. I was so inspired by his images, and it will definitely affect my future work.

Webb still works in film and is just starting to venture into digital, now.