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| My favorite subject for many years is the Nova Scotia seacoast |
Why do so many photographers, me included, spend hours at the computer looking at photo websites and blogs when they could be out making new pictures.
Bad weather is an easy excuse. Trolling the internet is something to do on a rainy day. If you can't get out and take pictures looking at other people's work is the next best thing. Taking pictures takes effort, sitting does not.
Besides, it has been a long time since I looked through a viewfinder and saw something new. This is my biggest excuse for being lazy. That and lack of self-motivation.
Lack of inspiration and motivation can lead to discouragement or boredom with one's own pictures and the inevitable slide to the desire for new equipment to fill that void, often short lived.
Modern equipment allows for technically good images from both novice and advanced photographers, however it is my opinion that the selection of subject matter, use of effective lighting along with an eye-pleasing composition is far more important than the camera and lens being used.
That others may be a better or more experienced photographers is often forgotten. What is easiest to justify to oneself is that others may have better equipment and therefore are creating better work.
The equipment pre-occupation comes from the relentless marketing of the camera industry equating newest equipment to better pictures and the subsequent lack of contentment with one's own stuff.
The result is the never ending pursuit of gear which one hopes will help to improve their work. A trap many fall into and never emerge. The pursuit of getting and using new lenses, cameras, software and printers or in our case developers, papers or films has become the mainstream of photographic interests.
...The problem is that cameras, lenses, filters, lights, computers and software are only the tools....
The eye, brain and heart are tools far more important to the creative photography process than any amount of equipment.
Another problem is the inability for many photographers to clearly judge their own work jumping back and forth from being a serious photographer to a serious experimenter to a serious equipment collector and never really creating a serious body of work which reflects an artistic path.
Most non-professional photographer lean toward subjects to which they can become emotionally attached, such as family, friends or a personal interest. Their feelings, circumstances, happiness or even joy during those moments of original photography become a part of their pictures, good or bad.
Their pictures can become clouded by the memories of the original photography event. The photographer's feelings, to which they may not sometimes be aware, becomes transferred to the pictures and may become just as important as the pictures themselves....." I was in seventh heaven photographing that rock concert," for example. Never really seriously judging their own work at the subjective level.
Some photographers, happy and pleased with their own work, rarely rely on the opinion of others. This too can become a trap. Often using the mantra "it worked before, so it will work again." these photographer's work can become repetitive and stagnant over time without them even being aware of the lack of a fixed plan, direction or clear photographic goals.
This attachment to one's own images can often cloud judgement. Where it is easy to accurately and fairly critique another photographer's work, the evaluation of your work, often with mixed emotions, can create problems. Especially if you desire the approval of others, such as a friend or relative, or even an editor or a gallery owner.
One can argue that all art is emotional. If you are not emotional attached to your work and why bother to create at all if the process is unemotional and not fulfilling.
A painter, for instance, normally does not dwell on the different brands of paint, brushes and techniques available. What is important is visualization, technique eventually leading to the finished painting. How they got to the finished painting is not important. The process is only a means to and end.
In photography the process or technique has become as important as the work itself. How the photographer arrived at the finished work has become just as important as the work itself. A photographic image can be described more accurately by the technique used to create it. Eg. silver gelatin, inkjet, bromoil, dye transfer.
From this comparison it follows that one should not dwell on equipment but only on the finished results. If a camera, the lens, film and process, however humble, works well and creates a good picture, self-approval from the photographer and the reinforcement of others is met, and the artistic desire is satisfied.
That humble camera and lens, however ancient, can be used until a particular artistic endeavor runs its course and the body of work, large or small, is completed by choice.
It is for this reason why I stick with my Mamiya C220 loaded with Ilford HP5. The goal being equipment being use is not important. The subject and how it is to be photographed is the number one concern. I do not get out as much as I should, but my gear is ready and needs no updating.
A body of work which parallels advances in technology is in itself a reflection of technology and not artistic in nature. True art springs from the mind and soul of the artist.
It is my belief that a photographer should remain in one area of expression and fully explore that particular genre until he has just nothing else to say visually before moving on. Becoming a craftsmen in an applied technique such the making of silver silver gelatin prints allows for a great amount of artistic expression something every photographic artist should strive toward.
The Mamiya TLR was built to last a photographer for many years, perhaps a lifetime. It works very well for the purpose for which it was intended. A well-rounded, easy to use professional camera for everyday use by anyone who takes the time to learn its controls and parameters.
When by choice a photographer chooses to stay and work within the boundary of the TLR, or any well made mechanical camera for that matter, he is liberated from the desires to obtain disposable state-of-the art equipment and can concentrate on his own work, not seeking the approval of others and confident the artistic path will be its own reward.
The only problem becomes one of equipment repair or the potential demise of emulsion products like film, chemistry and paper.
The so-called and inappropriately named analog arts.
Maybe time is running out for film photography and it behooves us to get busy.
But that is a rant for another day.....
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