3 posts tagged “why people photograph”

I've been working on a new website lately, and am getting color schemes worked out, as well as a good design for the home page. Here's just a quick preview of what one of the galleries will likely end up looking like:

It's just a fairly quick web gallery automated in Adobe Photoshop. It has a few things that need tweaking, that hopefully I'll be able to figure out. I've never done anything in Flash, so I don't know how the coding works, but I think I may be able to reverse-engineer things to figure out how it's put together. If that fails, I'll have to go down to the bookstore and get a book to help me out.

I'm too tired right now to post my Why People Photograph quotes, so I'll do it tomorrow. That should give me just that much more time to think about them and be able to put up some kind of coherent thought on the matter.

The title today, was taken from an essay in Robert Adams' book, "Why People Photograph," which, in the book, bears the title of "Writing."

Some quotes:

"The main reason that artists don't willingly describe or explain what they produce is, however, that the minute they do so they've admitted failure. Words are proof that the vision they had is not, in the opinion of some at least, fully there in the picture. Characterizing in words what they thought they'd shown is an acknowledgment that the photograph is unclear--that it is not art."

"Probably the best way to know what photographers think about their work, beyond consulting the internal evidence in that work, is to read or listen to what they say about pictures made by colleagues or precursors whom they admire."

I'm really getting a lot out of this reading of the book. It's done well (and I'm only 40 pages or so into it) to re-motivate me, and get the passion back alive.

I called my old friend and former photography teacher Brian Atkinson today (trying to get in touch with Darren), and he asked if I was ever going to get to grad school, and I told him yes, and that I'd dropped the ball the last 2 years. I'd thought of doing several different things, like getting a landscape architecture degree, or a outdoor recreation degree, but this past week to two weeks, the thought and goal and dream of going to grad school has been burning in my mind. It's been my dream for almost seven years, and I have to pursue it.

Tomorrow I will be going to a family reunion at Bear Lake, so there won't be any posts until Sunday, unless I can find some Wi-fi. Maybe by then I might have a better idea how to put into words: "Why I Photograph."

To start off, I would just like to add a few quotes I read today from Robert Adam's book "Why People Photograph":

"At our best and most fortunate we make pictures because of what stands in front of the camera, to honor what is greater and more interesting than we are. We Never accomplish this perfectly, though in return we are given something perfect--a sense of inclusion. Our subject thus redefines us, and is part of the biography by which we want to be known."

"When photographers get beyond copying the achievements of others, or just repeating their own accidental first successes, they learn that they do not know where in the world they will find pictures."

"In order to make pictures that no one has made before, [photographers] have to be attentive and imaginative, qualities partly assigned and partly chosen, but in any case ones that leave them vulnerable."

It seems that ever 7-10 months I read this book, and each time I do I get something more out of it. I just began reading it again today, and those are some statements that really caught my eye, and started provoking photographic thoughts again.
I've been pretty photographically slothful the last year, which is one contribution to last night's initial discouragement, and seeming unproductivity (sp?). I hit some rut brought about by laziness, and indolence, (and to some degree, the lack of "photo buddies) and never went specifically to photograph, except for one or two occasions. The past two weeks or so, I've been a little artistically/photographically restless, and last night I chose to do something about it.

So when I pulled "Why People Photograph" off the shelf and began reading on my lunch break, the question came into my mind: "Why do I photograph?"

A few answers/follow-up-questions came to mind:

Is it merely for building a new portfolio for graduate school applications? And if so What would happen during, and after grad school? or Is it because it was something I was passionate about for 5 years, neglected it, and now the passion is returning?

I quickly shunned the former questions, and embraced the latter. Photography is something I love. Perhaps more than all the outdoor activities I participate in. Being away from it for so long created a void that I tried to fill with endless hours in front of the TV playing video games, which is something weird for a person like myself to do; I should have at least spent the time out hiking and such. About two and a half months ago, all the video games finally got boring. Boring enough for me to turn the TV off, and begin again to do yoga and spend time on my training board, and go for some short hikes and go up Little Cottonwood Canyon, and go bouldering, and, as mentioned before, I finally went out photographing yesterday evening.

And now, on to the other things I have in mind:

I mentioned Jerry Burchfield's involvement in a project documenting the conversion of a military air strip into a public park. This evening I typed his name into my browsers search field, and found his website, which has a page about that project you can view here. He also has a link to the projects website that can be found here. As far as I can tell, there hasn't been any work done yet (I'll have to spend some more time really reading more about the progress of the construction and the project; I'm short on time this evening), but the concepts and plans they have in store sound pretty interesting.