I make a few assumptions about photography, some of them are good, some of them are bad, most are a bit in the middle, they're pretty much all wrong, many are opposing pairs and shouldn't be - this post fits somewhere in this picture, but I'm not sure where. Somewhere at the back perhaps?
Anyways, here are some assumptions.
Photography is an art
Photography is not an art
There is such a thing as documentary photography
There is a visual truth
There is not a visual truth
The bigger the better
The more the better
Repetition is good
Repetition is bad
Sequences of pictures tell stories
Individual pictures have a narrative
There is a right way sequence pictures to tell stories
Good photographers know things
Good photographers have to know things
You can learn from pictures
Photographs can change things
Photographs can't change things
Photographs make things better
There is such a thing as a concerned photographer
There is no such thing as a concerned photographer
Photographers care
It's all been done
It hasn't all been done
Obvious is good/not obvious is bad
Not obvious is good/obvious is bad
New is good
People understand pictures
We see pictures the same
We see pictures differently
There is a right way to see pictures
Photographs are like paintings
Photographs are not like paintings
Having your picture in a gallery is good
Having your picture in a magazine is good
Selling your pictures is good
Having people see your picture is good
Pictures don't need text
Pictures do need text
Commercial/social/product photography is not real photography
The only real photograph is a print
Looking at photographs on computers, in books and in a gallery are different things
There is such a things as photographic criticism
Intention matters
Intention doesn't matter
Photographic education is a waste of time
Photographic education is not a waste of time
You need money to be a successful photographer
You don't need money to be a successful photographer
Things used to be more real in the old days
And on and on and on.... Any more?
7 comments:
You always go straight to the point :) or not!
Photography is exploitation
Photography is not exploitation.
This post is excellent and I think we can all relate to it in someway. For me there is no right or wrong way to take a photograph. For me photography is an art were we can express ourselves, capturing lifes rich canvass in the way we see it.
I have only just started on the journey of photography but I am trying to leave assumption out as I don't want to make my journey hard.
http://sisphotographicjourney.blogspot.com/
Si
Joao and CS - good ones. And Captures life, Doesn't Capture Life, that's another one Si! Thank you all.
Conceptualism won out last century and dominates photography, like other mediums.
That is why photographers must shoot series in order to win contests.
This post could have been summed up in four words.
I don't know nothing.
You nailed it, Brian.
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