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Here's image fiction. Recently my friend Andreas Mannesinger blog-wondered about the legitimacy of photographic art. In an interaction with another photographer he dealt with whether photographers can actually bring their version of truth or meaning to a media which essentially just goes around copying what it sees.
Which led me to create, "A Step Farther". See the boys wending their way toward a radiant vista? See what they are about to see? And I was lucky to be there when these three iconic kids were poised upon seeing a WOW! moment. And of course, my camera acted as a kind of bucket which 'merely' scooped up these elements as opposed to what a painter might do.
See, it's argued that a poet, painter, novelist, sculptor, composer... every artist other than a photographer starts with a blank paper/canvas and fills it with his or her imagination. But a photographer, these folks insist, starts with a frame filled with an image that s/he simply stumbled upon. Hmmmmm....
Oh, by the way... These boys were playing in Musser Park at the center of Lancaster, Pennsylvania last week. Which of course was a... few... miles and months away from the magical coast of California I came upon last March. So much for the photographic artist as a bucket guy, eh?
And what are your thoughts? Are we mindless bucket wielders... or can photographers actually communicate their truth in images? Huh? Huh?
3 comments:
i wouldn´t say that the art of photography is more/less difficult than any other...it is just different than poetry or painting...
what about arts like dancing or fencing or martial arts? there the art has also to do with dealing with a "given" situation / person...
i guess the main thing with the photos is this "image that he stumbled upon"...a good photographer recognizes the "perfect" moment when it is there...and presses the shutter exactly at this moment...a thing that has for me a lot to do with experience....
i´m a bit in martial arts...here the key to sucess is besides hundrets of other things recognizing the moment and take it as your chance to score eg a perfect point...i can´t copy anyone when doing this...no opponent is like the other...everyone has different habits of moving and has different body posture...but that´s what makes the thing interesting for me...
another thing is this subjectivity... sure it is...that´s what makes it unique...imagine me and you at the same location for taking fotos...i don´t think that we will do exactly the same pictures...everyone has a personal view of the surroundigs and things that are important influences by millions of things like things we´ve seen before...all things that influence a picture...
another important thing in your art is the presentation of the picture...what makes me watching it? the texture? the background of the photoblog? the title?
Sue
What a terrific insight you have Sue. Yes... yes... you are right! In fact photography has as much in common with the sports arts as it does with anything else. The best photos come from the best moments which demands the reflexes of an athlete - something unnecessary to the painter or sculptor, novelist or poet. Great point Sue. Thanks for sharing.
A Pre-Raphaelite Ted Byrne? Way cool!
I feel a little bit mis-represented though. What I actually said was this. Other then that: Amen to everything you said, of course.
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