That whole business of “photographs with meaning” that a lot of arty types seem to be into… it just doesn’t do it for me. Can’t get my head around it at all.
The fact that a pic is claimed to be “symbolic” or have “deep and meaningful significance” or that some bizarre interpretation can be read into it is totally irrelevant as far as I’m concerned.
For me a picture works if, basically, it’s simply nice to look at. Or has some sort of impact. There may be some specific feature about it, a shape possibly, or the scene itself (the “subject matter” if you like), or subtleties of colour or tone, or even just the composition, that’ll likely determine whether or not it “speaks to me”. Rarely do I try to look any deeper than what I see before me.
That said, if a picture especially appeals to me then I may well examine it rather more closely to try to discover what “it” is that’s striking a resonance. And why it should resonate with me particularly.
But do I look for some esoteric meaning? Do I examine it in detail for such? Do I read things into it or think in terms of what the photographer is “saying”? Do I hell! I couldn’t give a toss about what the photographer may allegedly be “trying to say”. All I’m interested in is whether it works for me.
I’ll leave all that other nonsense to those who seem incapable of simply looking at a picture in its own right… “as it stands” so to speak. Who invariably have to “analyse” it, breaking it down into its components, missing entirely that all too often the sum is greater than the parts.
Maybe it is that I don’t fully “appreciate” photography. Well, that’s a load of old cobblers for a start. That’s one of the condemnations so often heard uttered by those elitists who have little time for the hoi polloi, fancying themselves privy to some special form or way of understanding. What I think is, that type’s stuck just a bit too far up their own orifices. Too much fancy “education” and not enough down-to-earth common sense. A lot of similar ilk are to be found in the art world, saying pretty much the same things. In reality, this just about sums it up I think…
No big mystery here: Art Appreciation simply means being able to look at works and form your own opinions.
(From Art Appreciation)
So call me an uneducated lout and heathen if you wish. One of the great unwashed ignorati… which is just how I like it.
I wonder sometimes whether this whole “looking for meaning” business is in fact a malaise of contemporary society; the sham and meaninglessness of most things, the preoccupation with materialistic objectives, the emphasis on appearance rather than substance… driving us to seek, even insist upon, meaning. To fill a void in the collective psyche… a void created by the rational, mechanistic, secular, technological world in which we live.
A world where the intangible, the non-physical, the… dare I say it?… spiritual seems to have little place.
Well, the world I occupy is already rich in meaning and significance, vibrant with echoes of a greater reality beyond that which we see in our daily lives. And thus I have no urge, desire, or need to try to impose artificial or contrived “meanings” upon lesser, trivial, things. Lesser things such as photographs for example.
Yeah, sure, I’ve played with producing images that have a “meaning”. But it’s never fully satisfied me. Feels too contrived, too artificial. And far too closely akin to what I used to do for a living. So ultimately I find myself asking “Why bother?”.
Now the stuff that really appeals to me, the things I’ll generally end up shooting (when I’m doing it for myself as distinct from when I have my “photojourno hat” on, or when I’m doing illustrative stuff), are very simple things. Scenes that strike me with their beauty. Colours maybe. Or a well-composed view. The interplay of light and shadow. Reflections. Contrast. Shapes. Something bizarre… or something funny. Maybe even a detail that catches my eye for no fathomable reason. These are the pics I truly enjoy. How much more delicious when several of these things come together in a single image!
And lines and angles. There’s something about lines and angles that really appeals to me. A fortuitous confluence of lines; angles superimposed one upon another or curious in some way; or the edges of things that, when abstracted from their surroundings, form (to my eye and mind) a pleasing pattern.
Whenever I can capture such images I’m well pleased.
Mike you’ve said it so well … and I so agree with you, though there are times when I want to find words to say more than “I really like that”!! There is one aspect that I particularly enjoy, and you are great at capturing this for me, it is when the photographer sees something a little differently than I would normally …. by going in closer, seeing it from an unusual angle, etc., then I find that when I look at the world around me, I’m just that little more aware and see more ….
So, I suppose what I’m getting to, is that a “good” photograph gives the viewer something to “take home” ….. it changes something in the visual cortex ….. and the power of a great picture on a receptive mind is how long that change lasts ….. I’m thinking of one of yours taken in the pub of a chair …. I looked at it a couple of days ago, but if I think of it now, it is vivid for me.
Heh heh. Thanks for that. I was half-expecting to have the wrath of the gods visited upon me for having the temerity to challenge current received wisdom re photography and one of the “purposes” its supposed to serve.
Then again, I guess the gods take very little notice of anything I may have to say.
A very thought provoking post Mike and one that I certainly agree with. And Tricia, I also know exactly what you mean. It wasn’t until I saw some of Mikes street scenes that I also began to ‘look’ at some of my own photos in a different light. Those shots that I had taken ages ago, when given the ‘black and white’ treatment brought out something else. Areas that weren’t noticeable in their coloured counterparts, a face that didn’t stand out particularly in the original suddenly became prominent. Shapes, everything changed. Now whenever I take a shot of a street, I am also looking at the whole scene differently. We learn from each other, and we NEVER stop learning until we draw our last breath
Absolutely. Once you put a cap on learning then you may as well roll over and die.
The black and white is an interesting and apposite example. For ages I just couldn’t see the point of it, wasn’t interested in it, and wouldn’t have dreamed of doing anything in it.
Then mate Darren started doing stuff in black and white, and I began to look at the sort of things he was producing and the things that could be achieved. So then I started looking at what other photogs were doing in b&w and, well, the rest’s history sort of thing.
And of course I’m still learning and exploring… not just that but other techniques as well. In fact, most of what I’m doing photography-wise is a far departure from the reasons I first became involved with it, and the whole thing has been, and still is, just one huge learn!
I totally agree as well! My favorite photos to take are of light and shadows. I never get tired of those….I am sure some are tired of seeing those type from me, but who cares. My photography is all about me and no one else.
I’m all about the “it works for me” photography.
Yep. The “it works for me” school of photography is definitely the one I support!
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