I got into a conversation the other day about what I photograph and why. This started me thinking about other photographers and wondered why they photograph what they photograph?
That is truly a great question. I will answer that and then pose another. I generally use my camera to document things - places that I've been, etc. I do, however, also use my camera as an experimental tool to see whether I can create a new blurred reality that evokes mood and infinity. I really move in the direction of the early photographers that wanted to prove that photography can be art. I like to move photography in a more painterly direction.
Blindspot - auction is coming up. I looked over the entire selection of work submitted. I found only a few pieces that intrigued me and moved me to see the photographer's websites.
I love photography and have collected it in the past. But why does almost everything in the auction & in photography look like it has been done over and over. (Jim - any thoughts on the Blindspot auction?)
This is why technique & experimentation are essential.
Final thought - I just recieved Hiroshi Sugimoto's "Time Exposed" portfolio - 50 seascapes. Is photographing the sea anything new? No. But to present 50 photographs that portray the most subtle distinctions is outstanding. I believe that this work by Sugimoto comes the closest to minimalist photography than almost anything that I've seen. It is "slow art" that requires patience.
This might be a bit rambling and incoherent but I'll give it a shot.
It almost sounds like you are a throwback to the pictorialists who thought that their images had to be soft to emulate the look of painters in order to be accepted as "real art." Ironically, a number of painters later got criticized for making their work look to "photographic" and were thus labeled mere illustrators!
Ultimately, craft is what we use to implement our vision. Without vision, craft is irrelevant.
As for the Blindspot auction, I couldn't agree more. I think it's a lot of what has been shown for a long time and, in many cases, it's the Emperor's New Clothes. Most reputations are made on the basis of a very few images. To some degree I think there is a fear of the beautiful image in contemporary photography. No one is quite sure how to deal with them. Are they mere decoration or are they something more that shows or takes us somewhere.
I had the opportunity to experience Sugimoto's seascapes at the National Gallery-East Wing several years ago. It was amazing. They constructed a special viewing area where you could sit in a darkened area and just let them wash over you. You could just sit there in quite contemplation and let them take you wherever you wanted. It was sort of the perfect confluence of vision and execution.
You know why I photograph what I do right? :) I am like you if people want to take off their clothes in front of my camera I think it would be just plain rude to complain. Ok now that I have had my fun with our inside joke about phtographing the female nude...
I have found over the years that I love photographing people. I am good at landscapes wether they be rural or urban, but I would always prefer to be photographing people. I have always been a people watcher, even before I had a camera in my hands. I am endlessly fascinated buy the mere fact that there are millions of people walking around thinking thoughts I know nothing about. I think part of my photography of people is basically a way for me to peer into their lives and wonder what it would be like to be them. I don't think this comes across in my images, and I don't really try to capture this and I'm not sure how I would if I wanted to. This is what draws me to photographing people in any setting, it is also what I think about when I view images of other people.
That is truly a great question. I will answer that and then pose another.
ReplyDeleteI generally use my camera to document things - places that I've been, etc.
I do, however, also use my camera as an experimental tool to see whether I can create a new blurred reality that evokes mood and infinity. I really move in the direction of the early photographers that wanted to prove that photography can be art. I like to move photography in a more painterly direction.
Blindspot - auction is coming up. I looked over the entire selection of work submitted. I found only a few pieces that intrigued me and moved me to see the photographer's websites.
I love photography and have collected it in the past. But why does almost everything in the auction & in photography look like it has been done over and over. (Jim - any thoughts on the Blindspot auction?)
This is why technique & experimentation are essential.
Final thought - I just recieved Hiroshi Sugimoto's "Time Exposed" portfolio - 50 seascapes. Is photographing the sea anything new? No. But to present 50 photographs that portray the most subtle distinctions is outstanding.
I believe that this work by Sugimoto comes the closest to minimalist photography than almost anything that I've seen. It is "slow art" that requires patience.
Vilis,
ReplyDeleteThis might be a bit rambling and incoherent but I'll give it a shot.
It almost sounds like you are a throwback to the pictorialists who thought that their images had to be soft to emulate the look of painters in order to be accepted as "real art." Ironically, a number of painters later got criticized for making their work look to "photographic" and were thus labeled mere illustrators!
Ultimately, craft is what we use to implement our vision. Without vision, craft is irrelevant.
As for the Blindspot auction, I couldn't agree more. I think it's a lot of what has been shown for a long time and, in many cases, it's the Emperor's New Clothes. Most reputations are made on the basis of a very few images. To some degree I think there is a fear of the beautiful image in contemporary photography. No one is quite sure how to deal with them. Are they mere decoration or are they something more that shows or takes us somewhere.
I had the opportunity to experience Sugimoto's seascapes at the National Gallery-East Wing several years ago. It was amazing. They constructed a special viewing area where you could sit in a darkened area and just let them wash over you. You could just sit there in quite contemplation and let them take you wherever you wanted. It was sort of the perfect confluence of vision and execution.
You know why I photograph what I do right? :) I am like you if people want to take off their clothes in front of my camera I think it would be just plain rude to complain. Ok now that I have had my fun with our inside joke about phtographing the female nude...
ReplyDeleteI have found over the years that I love photographing people. I am good at landscapes wether they be rural or urban, but I would always prefer to be photographing people. I have always been a people watcher, even before I had a camera in my hands. I am endlessly fascinated buy the mere fact that there are millions of people walking around thinking thoughts I know nothing about. I think part of my photography of people is basically a way for me to peer into their lives and wonder what it would be like to be them. I don't think this comes across in my images, and I don't really try to capture this and I'm not sure how I would if I wanted to. This is what draws me to photographing people in any setting, it is also what I think about when I view images of other people.