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Below are the three most recent Here's a Thought . . . commentaries
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HT2032 - A Photograph Is a Printed Object |
I recently was talking with a photographer who stated authoritatively that there wasn't a photograph until there was a print. That certainly was true in my youth, but I'm not so sure any more. This is why I try to clarify my language by differentiating between a photograph and an image. |
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HT2033 - A Most Creative Question |
A friend gifted to me 500 sheets of 4x6" glossy inject paper. Every day when I walk into my office, I see that stack of paper and wonder what I might do with it. Voilá, a new project is born. |
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HT2034 - An Audience of One |
In a conversation the other day, a photographer was making a case for large prints on the wall because they could be viewed simultaneously by a group of people. Viewing such artwork, he emphasized, becomes a social activity. Maybe that's another reason why I tend not to make prints for the wall. |
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HT2035 - Subjects That Are Everywhere |
In this month's LensWork Bonus Edition we are featuring a project by Kevin Raber that consists of images of rust. In some ways, this reminded me of a project we published from Larry Blackwood about crows (LensWork #93). What these two projects have in common is that their subjects are common. Both Raber and Blackwood could photograph anywhere, on any day, out their front door or as they travelled around the world. Brilliant. |
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HT2036 - Photography As an Unhealthy Postponement |
One of the worst aspects of photography is that it can seduce us into postponing deep seeing. When we click the shutter, we can stop looking because we can see it later in the photograph. Said another way, photography can be a way of shutting off our engagement with the world. |
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HT2037 - Presets Are Not the End |
I love the time saving presets we can use in the digital workflow. If we are not careful with them, however, they can seduce us into a lethargy and numbness that works against our creativity. Presets are a beginning, but it is so easy to think of them as a final step.
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HT2038 - Waiting for the Subtleties |
Admittedly, I'm older and less mobile than I was in my youth. This has led to a different strategy in my photography that I find strangely much more productive than I would have guessed. I sit. I look. I think. I look some more. This inevitably leads to interesting images I would have missed in the click-and-run activities of my youth. |
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HT2039 - The Cone of Silence |
Do you remember the cone of silence from the old TV show Get Smart? I often recall this when I think about looking at artwork, particularly my own photographs. How can I perceive my own responses to the art (or the world) when they are diluted and overpowered by the din around me? I want to immerse myself in The Cone of Silence as I immerse myself in the artwork. |
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| HT2040 - Prioritizing Our Activities |
I suppose I'm no different than all of you in that I don't like thinking about my own mortality. Like it or not, our days are numbered. With this in mind, how do we prioritize the possibilities of our remaining creative life?
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HT2041 - Expanding Media |
In terms of the medium itself, most fine art photographers limit themselves to a single form of expression, the matted and framed print on the wall. It's interesting to compare that to writers or composers who typically explore various kinds of forms during their creative years. |
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HT2042 - The Importance of Being Decisive |
Artmaking is a series of trials, of assessments, of decisions. I think this is the source of great difficulty for some who struggle in their creative life. I've often referred to the great challenge of artmaking as the "C" word: COMMITMENT. |
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HT2043 - Organizing Virtual Copies |
Depending on your workflow, if you are like me you have lots of virtual copies in your Lightroom database. Why do these copies exist? Do we need to keep them? What was the purpose for which they were created? Copy Name and Smart Collections to the rescue! |
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HT2044 - Cleanliness Is Next to Artliness |
Do remember the film photographer's devil-incarnate known as changing bags? There's not much difference between a changing bag and a vacuum cleaner bag when it comes to dust. Even here in the digital age, dust is still an enemy for all of us. |
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HT2045 - Limits |
I know it's shocking, shocking I tell you, that you're current camera has limits. Your last camera had limits. Your next camera will have limits. The question is not whether your camera does or does not have limits, but rather can you find a way around the limits, or even simpler, except the limits and just do the best work you can with what you have. |
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HT2046 - View It Again |
One way I find useful when evaluating a new image (mine or someone else's) is to think about whether or not I will want to view it again. Is it likely to wear well over time? Compare this to music. There are songs I've listened to a thousand times. Others, one time is enough. |
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