Angst Revisited
So I percolated a bit more on my thoughts and Eury's comment. What I feel boils down to this:
To me, photography is the art of showing people what you see. Everyone looks, not everyone really 'sees'. Using film or pixels, if I can make someone stop and really SEE something, even if they don't cull some life or view changing message from it, then I have done my job as an artist. What do I mean by "see"? The way I see it, looking is 100% sensory. Light hits rods and cones, becomes electrical signals which a brain interprets and recognizes familiar shapes. But actually seeing something, that's maybe 25% sensory, everything else involves your heart, your memories, emotions and spirit. Giving a photo a hidden deep meaning simply exacerbates that function. Some of the most beautiful photos that I've seen involve little more than people dancing with swirls of colour on their costumes or the thickly painted face of indigenous people.
What's my mission as a photographer? To show people how to See, to show to them that what they perceive is less than 10% of what's really going on around them. To see beauty where there wasn't before. To make them reflect, make them think. And most importantly, to make them feel. Granted this is easiest done when a photographer uses symbolism and metaphor in his visual presentation. But Jackson Pollock did no such thing, and I consider him an artistic great. Sure once in a while I may fail at that mission, but everything takes practice and dedication.
Going back to what I said about making people feel, that's why I love photos of people more than anything else. Humans are capable of so much subtlety and nuance in photo. Laughlines, crows feet, piercing eyes, dull eyes, perfect skin, crooked teeth. You know, as tacky and new age as it sounds, if I could have one job, it would be to take picture of people who don't think they're beautiful, and show them that they really are. I watched a really interesting show on genetic mutation in humans and there is a photographer who specializes in taking photos of people with afflictions like Albinoism. They portraits he shot were simply gorgeous, and I couldn't agree more with why he did what he was doing. People are too obsessed with looking as good as someone. Someone said once that somewhere in the world there is another person who thinks you are the most beautiful thing they've ever seen.
So I guess there's hope for me yet ;)
To me, photography is the art of showing people what you see. Everyone looks, not everyone really 'sees'. Using film or pixels, if I can make someone stop and really SEE something, even if they don't cull some life or view changing message from it, then I have done my job as an artist. What do I mean by "see"? The way I see it, looking is 100% sensory. Light hits rods and cones, becomes electrical signals which a brain interprets and recognizes familiar shapes. But actually seeing something, that's maybe 25% sensory, everything else involves your heart, your memories, emotions and spirit. Giving a photo a hidden deep meaning simply exacerbates that function. Some of the most beautiful photos that I've seen involve little more than people dancing with swirls of colour on their costumes or the thickly painted face of indigenous people.
What's my mission as a photographer? To show people how to See, to show to them that what they perceive is less than 10% of what's really going on around them. To see beauty where there wasn't before. To make them reflect, make them think. And most importantly, to make them feel. Granted this is easiest done when a photographer uses symbolism and metaphor in his visual presentation. But Jackson Pollock did no such thing, and I consider him an artistic great. Sure once in a while I may fail at that mission, but everything takes practice and dedication.
Going back to what I said about making people feel, that's why I love photos of people more than anything else. Humans are capable of so much subtlety and nuance in photo. Laughlines, crows feet, piercing eyes, dull eyes, perfect skin, crooked teeth. You know, as tacky and new age as it sounds, if I could have one job, it would be to take picture of people who don't think they're beautiful, and show them that they really are. I watched a really interesting show on genetic mutation in humans and there is a photographer who specializes in taking photos of people with afflictions like Albinoism. They portraits he shot were simply gorgeous, and I couldn't agree more with why he did what he was doing. People are too obsessed with looking as good as someone. Someone said once that somewhere in the world there is another person who thinks you are the most beautiful thing they've ever seen.
So I guess there's hope for me yet ;)
posted by Bray at 4:55 PM
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