Finally understanding photography is much more than it seems.

[jon_k]

I just wanted to share a pretty deep personal revolution that I've come to, and where I'm standing in photography currently. If you have any comments about this, please let me know. I just felt like announcing my current phase in the journey.

Up until this point, this week even, it has been all about gear and technical aspects of photography to me. All the while, I've been preaching "it's not the equipment, its your technique" to posters on forums. But, obviously it was just a phrase I was regurgitating, as I didn't believe it myself to the full extent. Sure, I enjoyed taking photographs and even made some pretty good ones, but something has always been lacking in my photographs, and so where I lacked, I made up for in equipment purchases.

I wasn't buying equipment because I thought it would take good photos for me, but I thought it would help me take better quality photos. Any tool is useless without purpose, direction, or motivation. A fisheye can create barrel distortion, but if you can't make a photograph that has impact and stands on its own, it won't hold water at all. A blind man can't take good photographs no matter how good his gear is.

I feel I am evolving and I'm trying to decide where to go at this point. I'm at a crossroads but which turn do I take? I need to develop my own style, and find my own niche, and find something that I enjoy photographing as much as I enjoy the act of photography itself. I then need to take that passion and wrap my photography around it to inspire other people.

I feel by studying the "greats" photographs up and down I can determine what makes the great photographs so great. I then feel I'd be able to take some of their inspiration and technique and apply it to my own efforts. I don't want to imitate them, but I want to use them to give me a path of my own.Then I feel I can spin my own style and perspective and learn to take meaningful photographs.

This hobby is as much about equipment as it is about philosophy. Unfortunately nearly all the photo forums I've visited talk all about equipment rather than feelings, emotion, and the motivation of photography. Probably because the reasons why people take photographs are about as different and many as stars in the sky. Nobody would agree on the same motivations and purposes. We can't even agree on equipment when someone brings up a brand or manufacturer. How could we agree on form of expression?

I am evolving and I'm trying to determine my path and passion. What's my end goal in photography? I'm asking questions like "Why do we take photos at all?" and "How can I effect the lives of those viewing my photo." and "How can I show the viewer what I want them to see" (Up until now, I've been taking photos for me. Taking photos of what I think /I/ see.) This is philosophical points we studied in the text book in high school photography class. I hated that part. I just wanted to snap some shots and get to play in the darkroom. I don't feel this costly mis happen path was a mistake. It was probably a requirement for me to ever come to this point.

Too bad I can't get answers from anyone on this forum to these questions. They are questions only myself can answer. The fact I'm even asking them must be worth something and shows that I might have some sign of improving. Photographs with purpose have impact. Photographs with impact have purpose. Doesn't that sound about right? I think I'll find my answers, but it won't be as easy as searching the forum anymore. All I need to do is make my photographs have impact and purpose. Easier said then done.

Has anyone come to this level of thought?

I felt like I understood photography pretty well a week ago. Now I feel like I've only scratched the surface. Imagination is more important than knowledge... said Albert, and he was undoubtedly right.

[Toad]

Originally Posted by jon_k

I feel I am evolving and I'm trying to decide where to go at this point. I'm at a crossroads but which turn do I take? I need to develop my own style, and find my own niche, and find something that I enjoy photographing as much as I enjoy the act of photography itself.

My wife won't let me take the kind of photos that I want to take. She thinks that after I'm done taking the pictures, I'll want to "entertain" the "subject" more "personally". I keep trying to tell her that after I tie up the pretty young naked girl, and throw her on a mattress in my dirty garage, all I want to do is take pictures of her.
Now I know what you're thinking, and I'm not talking about a Larry Flint style, but more of a Suicide Girl style. Just without the tattoos / piercings, and more realistic looking with better makeup. Oh, and no Suicide Girl psycho contracts or any of the other BS they do.
I don't care if it sells. I don't care if I don't make a dime. It's what I like that matters, especially since the other job pays the bills.
...
My mind is so full of ideas, but the wifey says "No".
Toad

[janetg]

Jon, very thoughtful post. i think many of us have asked ourselves the same questions at some point.

i don't think you are going to find your answers by studying the 'greats'. what made those people what they are - is their passion. behind their passion, you will find the motivation and the drive. passion is what inspires. when you find your passion you will know it.

for me, i have different levels of passion for different types of photography. you don't have to limit yourself. most people are on this earth a really long time - so you do have time to explore, time to grow, time to find that niche you want.

ask yourself this though, what if you don't find that special place? what if you never become one of the greats? in this day and age, that will be so much harder to do, as the world gets more and more connected, there's always going to be someone somewhere that blows the rest of us away. that's just how it is.

thoughts? and toad....my husband won't let me take the kind of photos i want to either, but it doesn't involve tying anyone up - haha. it would involve travelling to really cool places instead of butt ugly houston.

[johnastovall]

I'm an artist first and photographer second. You learn a lot of answers to your questions by study the writings of great photographers and artists.

I've know for a long time, images without a unifying philosophy are less than autumn leaves.

As for why photography, for me Van Gogh said all, "'To make them say, 'He feels deeply. He feels tenderly.'"

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by janetg

Jon, very thoughtful post. i think many of us have asked ourselves the same questions at some point.

i don't think you are going to find your answers by studying the 'greats'. what made those people what they are - is their passion. behind their passion, you will find the motivation and the drive. passion is what inspires. when you find your passion you will know it.

for me, i have different levels of passion for different types of photography. you don't have to limit yourself. most people are on this earth a really long time - so you do have time to explore, time to grow, time to find that niche you want.

ask yourself this though, what if you don't find that special place? what if you never become one of the greats? in this day and age, that will be so much harder to do, as the world gets more and more connected, there's always going to be someone somewhere that blows the rest of us away. that's just how it is.

thoughts? and toad....my husband won't let me take the kind of photos i want to either, but it doesn't involve tying anyone up - haha. it would involve travelling to really cool places instead of butt ugly houston.

Janet, you are surrounded by really great images there in Houston. If you went to those 'really cool places' all you would do is take the same pictures of them that other have done.

Find the images in 'butt ugly houston.' There are great pictures there. Open your mind and eyes to them. Take a look at what Wim Wenders did with the Houston landscape in Written in the West.

Remember Josef Sudek found immortal images on the window sill of his studio.

[rockpics]

I'm not making a living from photography, so that frees me to photograph what I want.
At the same time, my amateur status takes away some legitimacy. Is what I like to do
art? I don't know. Some other people can relate to my photography some of the time, sometimes not.

[venchka]

jon_k: Your post should be a sticky at the top of the Equipment Section.

Toad: I sympathize with you. Been there. Tried to do it. Almost got the divorce.

janetg & johnastovall: janetg is correct. By your definition, most of Harris County would qualify. On the other hand, those of us forced to endure Houston need to get out and dig for the photogenic qualities that can be found anywhere. Todd.Hanz has certainly managed to put a "new face" on Houston.

Houston by Todd.Hanz

More Todd.Hanz

[dcnctx]

(A SIMPLE VIEW - for what it's worth)
It's often like looking at a road map or standing in the entry of a large mall; where do you want to go? I would think in creative work, this comparison can be similar. Unless of course, you are a prodigy and have been given some creative purpose from birth that is only awaiting discovery.

Back to the simple view, which I'm sure can evolve throughout one's creative life, as you mention. I would say this view has more purpose for the fine arts photographer than the working photographer, supplying whatever the commercial market's demand is. (I'm sure it is important to take a quality photograph in whatever circumstance you find yourself, which is more technical than philosophical, as your inquiry seems to be.)

1st - Is there something that you want to convey through your work, a story that you want to tell, something that needs to be told or seen?

2nd - Is anyone else telling that story already? Can you tell it better? If so, how? Can you shed more light on the topic?

3rd - Can anyone hear/see your story as it exist? (It's the proverbial, if a tree in the forest falls and no one is around to hear it...) How can others see what you are doing? This can be remedied in many ways. Deliver your work to the people.

4th - Can you finance your vision or is someone willing to finance your vision? Not one camera, boxed in a warehouse (or camera bag), will ever take a significant image until the artist, the photographer takes it to where the image lies and snaps the photo. You have to go to where that photograph is and capture that picture if it is there.

5th - Gillions of photos are snapped everyday around the world. What else needs to be photographed? Lots of things and with the gillions of photos taken everyday, gillions of stories still remain untold.

6th - It's not the lottery for the majority of us. We work our entire lives and produce a significant amount of pictures but the world rarely beats a path to our door, begging us to take their photographs; however, our community may find our door and telephone number and ask that we capture the photographs that would be significant to them. That's where most of us begin our climb.

I'm sure a great deal more could be written and the wealth of experienced photographers here all have a vast amount of knowledge to draw from and yield insight to your inquiry. Often we, as flawed humans, merely require a jumpstart in the same way as a car with a dead battery. Once our engine is running, we can go everywhere and a vision from that roadmap will tell us what direction we need to proceed. An observant eye, persistance, and patience will also yield material to you as you operate from where you are today. This will prepare you for when you finally get to where you want to go in photography. It's the journey(as you mention) of life that we all travel and it takes time. It can't be picked up in the drive-through and that is probably a good thing.

I hope I haven't carried on too long here and it's clear, much of this, you already realize from your post but for what it's worth, there you go.
I believe your answer lies within the questions you've already posed. Take that Olympus out and capture what you want others to see or know and then show it to them.

Regards and best of luck in your quest!

[Mike G]

Originally Posted by jon_k

A blind man can't take good photographs no matter how good his gear is.

Really?

http://www.edelmangallery.com/dugdale.htm

http://www.johndugdale.net/

and

Flo Fox is another http://www.gis.net/~fotoflo/

[iCe]

Interesting post that I think will resonate with a lot of people. There are some days where I feel that all I am doing is taking a picture. There are other days when I think that I have captured an image. I cherish those days.

I don't know if studying the greats photographs will make you a better photographer. It might make you technically better if you can see what they've done to make the image "great". It's not going to make you a better artist. In my opinion, for the viewer, the "art" comes from within the artist AND the connection that is created when YOU appreciate his or her work. However, for the artist, I think that the appreciation of their art comes from within and any appreciation that comes from an external source is not a factor in their overall feeling for their work.

I'm going to drag out an old cliche for you- You have to be able to see the light to create the best image possible. I've heard that for as long as I can remember and after 41 years of on again, off again photography I am just now beginning to understand what that means. At least I think that I am

One note on gear- Today's technology affords anyone with interest in capturing pictures and images (two distinctly different things), to do so with relative ease. Even a $300.00 point and shoot can be used to create wonderful images. To be "unique" in today's world you have to go to the image. You have to find it. You have to create it. Galen Rowell didn't pull over to the side of the road and fire off a burst at the sun setting on a mountain range. He searched out the location. He created the moment by putting himself there and setting up the shot. If you give Fran Reisner a point and shoot she will create a beautiful image that we would all envy. Put me in her studio and I'll take a picture or two and if I'm lucky I'll get an image but only because I have taken some time and studied with people like her . Fran (there are others that I could name, I'm just using Fran because I know that her technical and artistic skills run much deeper than most people realize) sees the image before she creates it. She has the ability to visualize what she wants and the technical skills to capture it with whatever is available to her. However, Fran doesn't use a point and shoot to capture her images. She uses pro quality gear and for good reason. That's all I'm going to say about that.

If you want to really get in touch with photography, get your hands on a full manual film camera and shoot a couple of rolls. It's humbling.

[iCe]

ROFL.. what DCNTX said (while I was typing)

[venchka]

There ain't any Magic Bullets.

Give me the best equipment made & I'll make some bad pictures.

Ansel Adams is quoted as saying something to the effect that if he got 1 keeper out of 100 exposures he felt lucky. I reckon even I could have made a nice career with the other 99. He's also quoted as saying something like If I knew then what I know now I would have just used a pinhole camera.

I ran across these quotes recently. I'm not familiar with Mr. Pierce, but he seems like the kind of person I would like to meet.

Bill Pierce - Leica M photog and author

“Our autobiography is written in our contact sheets, and our opinion of the world in our selects”

"Never ever confuse sharp with good, or you will end up shaving with an ice cream cone and licking a razor blade."

Y'all have fun!

[Gordon]

Jon - I think you are articulating well something that I've been struggling with for a long time. A large chunk of the posts to my blog over the last year have been wrestling with these sorts of issues - what do I want to do, what interests me in photography, where does my passion lie, other than 'photography'

You need to find the subject that fires up your imagination, then use your talent to show that. That subject doesn't have to be grand or important - just interesting to you. It helps if you have access to it.

I find journaling helps me to focus in more closely on these sorts of things - writing down ideas, exploring concepts can help me move towards what I want to achieve.

Projects have become a big part of my process too - not just trying to create a one-off good image, but working towards a cohesive set of images on a particular theme.

Answering "I have a passion for ____________ and my goal is to _____________." can be helpful too. If you can fill in those blanks honestly, you'll be way ahead of most of us. More so if you follow through on it :)

[Gordon]

Originally Posted by rockpics

I'm not making a living from photography, so that frees me to photograph what I want.
At the same time, my amateur status takes away some legitimacy. Is what I like to do
art? I don't know. Some other people can relate to my photography some of the time, sometimes not.

I think you'll find that you take away your legitimacy, not the fact that you don't earn money from it.
I used to do that to myself all the time. Someone would ask 'are you a photographer' and I'd come up with a whole lot of 'no, I'm a blah blah blah, but I like to take photos as a hobby'

Now I just say yes, I am a photographer. Makes life easier. You don't have to be defined by what you make money at.

[Gordon]

A few of the posts I've written about process and trying to improve in the ways you describe. Might be useful. Might just be me pimping my blog. You be the judge ;)

three little questions
three little answers
picking a project
ways forward

There's quite a few more hidden away if those are interesting or useful.