[pure-silver] Re: The Quest and My Heresy??
- From: Dave Hornford <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 08:45:17 -0700
I'm with Snoopy - to me it is the creation of art. I fund my photography so
the art speaks to my heart. When taking a photograph the shot is rarely what
my eyes see. Sometimes what I print actually matches what was speaking to me
when I took the photograph.
Dave
-----Original Message-----
From: Snoopy [mailto:snoopy@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: December 15, 2006 2:54 AM
To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: photowonder2010@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [pure-silver] The Quest and My Heresy??
Dear Adrienne,
sorry if I am being a heretic (feel free to burn me at the satke) but I
myself always find myself with two hearts in my chest.
Firstly I want to make good pictures (note: not necessarily good prints) and
I do feel that most people, also some on the list here, are far too
technical in their approach. For a lot of people good pictures boil down to
printing technique and chemistry. Or lots of pixels and PhotoShop. Or
expensive ameras and even more expensive lenses.
At the Photoclub especially the digital crowd just drones on and on about
their cameras and not about the pictures taken with them, I sometimes wonder
if they actually take pictures or just get their kick reading the spec
sheet!
My point is: is it really worthwhile for you to try and make prints that
look like someone elses by going down the same "technical route" what with
big cameras and unsharp masks and/or loads of pixels etc. ?? Is this the way
you should "run" _your_ hobby?
Photography (well, the way we do it) is a unique pastime in that you need
specific technical skills and thorough working habits and procedures in
order to produce an acceptable quality.
But if you try to emulate someone else I think you simply get frustrated. At
some point, after having seen tons of grand and fabulous prints by the Grand
Masters and Mistresses I just gave up "trying to be like them". The problem
being:
there is obviously no "right way" - everyone has their on style, their own
"look" of the prints etc. So I am stuck with having to chose a Grand Master
to follow plus all the technical challenges thrown in on top.
And some of the renowned pphotographers never did their own darkroom work.
Helmut Newton and James Nachtwey for example.
So my second heart is now: try to take good pictures which are
"medium-indpendent". I try to capture the emotions, the look, the scene ,
the moment and I simply do my processing to ensure that the pictures are
"consumable" in an acceptable form. Oh, sure, I try to get things "right"
with contrasts, gray scales, no dust, no scratches and some such, but I only
really see this as the "substrate" on which good pictures grow.
My friend Lance does a lot of Baryt prints. They are wonderful - because he
captures the souls of his models and his message is clear. I do RC prints
and my critics assure me that my message also comes over (sometimes better,
more often worse). But I do not feel "hampered" by the paper. I feel
hampered due to lack of talent, not technical skills.
By the way - this attitude of trying rto simply taker "good pictures" i.e.
those that transport a "message", have a "deeper sense", emotional depth
etc. is a kind of neat way to escape the entire film vs. digital debate. I
don´t give a damn how the picture got into the camera. Whats important is
what COMES OUT OF THE FINAL PICTURE to reach ME.
And I admit it: I have never never ever made a print and/or picture I am
truly happy with. And I have been trying for nearly 30 years now! Oh, my
models, my friends etc., everyone I take them for are happy, very happy
indeed. But I am NEVER happy.
It is an eternal quest. Maybe a curse. But it has very little to do with
unsharp masks, chemistry or pixels. If I feel my messagewould come over
better if the print were sharper, only then would I dig out unsharp masks
and all the good stuff.
So the questuion to you is: would you really be happier if you produced
prints that looked like someones elses?
Just a thought.
Have a nice weekend...and thank you lots for all of your postings on
pure-silver, always wonderful to read...
Love,
Snoopy
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