Thanks for all the comments on PAW 07, 08 and the Soft Lights sets. But in these instances, a simple thank you seemed insufficient. I've thought about the comments for a good bit of time the past several days. I found it curious that some people seemed to take umbrage by the fact that I was inspired by another photographer's work in doing them as well as the previous PAW 07 photo, and was told that I do better 'listening to my gut and not copying another person's style' ...
Hmm. My goal was not to copy the other photographer's work. My goal was to achieve the emotional feeling that I have when I view his work. That's what inspiration is all about, to me ... it comes from somewhere, some idea expressed by another photographer or artist, the world in current events, my own mental kaleidoscope of seeing things in juxtaposition and contrast... The work that inspired me in this case is in a spare, minimalist style to which I have aspired for a long time with some of my work. It presents an emotional feeling of serenity and joy that is difficult to articulate in words, a joy in the simple interplay of light and shadow as they play in our daily spaces. I don't pretend anything to suggest that I'm a master at it, but I've got a lot of work taken in this vein over the past decade or more as I work to that mastery of the style. In being inspired by Sugimoto, capturing these photos and presenting them in a theme, of course they are simple images that nearly anyone could have made. That's not the point. His work in "Colors of Shadow" are photos that 'anyone could have made' too. The questions being posed when a photo is up for critique, at least in my opinion, are - do you like it? what is your immediate reaction? how about a little later, do you go back to it and think again? - what do you think of it in technical terms? - is the subject matter of interest to you? - does the photograph impose any emotional effect upon you? - what, if anything, does the photograph mean to you? - by inference, does the photograph say anything indicative of the presenter's intent, presuming that the intent has been articulated? IN other words, does the photograph answer the question as to 'why is this significant based on what I know of the presenter?' These are the questions that go through my head when I look at photos. Some are more important than others, at different times and in different contexts. I like seeing other people try different thema, different styles as much as I like to see them develop more of the particular style that I've become accustomed to from them. It shows that they are exploring, trying things, challenging their skills and patterns, open to new ideas. Many of these new explorations are failures ... We learn from our failures, and from constructive criticism pointing out different ways of seeing them. Brooks Jensen (http://brooksjensenarts.com/) mentioned in one of his recent podcasts the dearth of online discussion forums where notions of the critique of photos, beyond "what camera took it? what lens? what was the exposure? do you like this lens or that lens?" etc etc. I agree with him. I'd like to see more discussion of Photography with a capital P, of the motivations behind the development of the medium as an art form and as a communications vehicle, a mode of expression. This is what I've always hoped would happen with SeePhoto (http:// www.micapeak.com/mailman/listinfo/seephoto), the mailing list I've been running for five years plus now. But it seems a terribly difficult thing to get started and keep rolling. Perhaps this note will spawn some discussion there and elsewhere. Because this is the real meat of Photography to me, not brands, bodies, lenses, specifications, etc. It's about art, communications, expression ... the need to create, to express one's self, and convey those expressions to others. Again, thank you all for the comments. It's good to think about these things. Now if only we can get some discussion going. :-) best Godfrey > http://homepage.mac.com/ramarren/photo/PAW7/07.htm > http://homepage.mac.com/ramarren/photo/PAW7/08.htm > http://www.gdgphoto.com/softlights/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
