Why do we photograph?

A question has been on my mind: why do we photograph?

On the surface the answer is simple, we are recording the events in our lives so they will not be forgotten. This is the dutiful answer from the parent snapping photos of the children, the vacationer who faithfully packs a camera to show his friends when he gets home, but is this the answer for those who pursue photography? Those people who spend hours looking at other photographers' work online, those who spend even more hours discovering every detail and function their camera(s) provide - does that answer still fit for them?

All the photographers I know, including myself, can hardly look at anyone or anything without sizing up what it would look like through the lens. In fact, we get anxious or even exasperated if we accidentally miss an event that could have been photographed.
"Did you have a good time at the show?"
"I got some great pictures!"
This dialogue is probably all too familiar to 'serious' photographers. If you are not the second speaker, you'll still feel excited to hear the words from someone else and then ask to see the photos.
What is it that drives our fascination? The same question could be asked, I suppose of any art form. And yet photography does not carry the same prestige of other types of artists. The oil painter, even if he isn't expected to be able to make a living, is at least respected as a 'true artist,' while the photographer is simply someone who captures pretty images of things that already exist (and if its not a portrait or a postcard, forget it!).
Even in my own mind, I can't help but think of the strangeness of hanging on my wall what any eye could see if they looked. Perhaps that's just it, though. People don't look. All image-art, especially photography, shows people a different perspective of life. Or it reminds them of the beauty they closed their eyes to.
So maybe that's an answer about why people are interested in looking at photos, but why do we spend our lives taking them? What's your answer?

This particular blog was also published on Art Neighbor, an internet art community for collectors and artists alike. I also have a profile on this new and growing site.

Portrait of a Mask

A gothic revival of sorts

A good portrait, to me, should tell a story. One looks into the person's face and tries to figure out their life story merely by a glimpse of one moment. I love to work with people to tell this story, whether it is truly a portrait of their life story or a story of my own invention that I am endeavoring to tell.

This was my first time working with this particular model, who was very cooperative. I had been wanting to do a goth scene and I thought she would be perfect, and she was. I hope to work with her again. A million thanks to her!

Also of interest is the mask used, which the rest of the studio set was built around. It is one of my favorite masks of my own design.

Portrait of a Mask

My title-photo of the shoot. I love the model's expression and the framing of the branches turned out well. The title has many meanings here.

Poised

This photo gives to me a feel that the person in it is waiting, in control and completely prepared for what comes next -- whether love or war.

Dark and Dangerous

While this photo is essentially the same pose as the photo above it, the angle I switched to gives it a very different feel. Taken from above, looking down the photo now has darker shadows lining one side of the woman's face, giving her expression a more sinister look.

Masked Meeting

Again, changes in the camera's position make for a completely different telling of the story than before.

Glamour

In this photo I was experimenting with different color shades. The warmer tones of this portrait give a more glamorous feel to the photo than a goth one. However, what also should be remember when considering the title is the older meaning of the word "glamour." It is an old English term used to describe the magic of the fay, and their ability to make people see whatever they wanted them to see. Maybe things are not so benign here.

See

I chose to use this photo because of the many small details I like in it: how the hair and the feathers blend together, the slight fuzzyness of the tips of the feathers, how her hair falls over her shoulders, and most of all the single eye that can be seen through the mask. In fact, it is almost the only feature of the face you can make out. It is a tantalising glimpse, and what connects the viewer with the picture.

The next several photos are studies of the model without the mask covering her face. Some were taken before posing with the mask and some after.

The 4th from the Other Side of the Mountain

While I never made it to Five Points for the 4th (where the view is reputed to be the best), I still took some pictures of Thunder on the Mountain, Birmingham's classic fireworks display.
These are taken from the view from the other side of the mountain in Homewood, off of Greensprings. The fireworks are not pointed this direction, so the view is not the best.


It was a little eerie to watch as I was so far away. While I saw the explosions and the smoke, I could not hear a thing -- a silent film of fireworks.


These clusters inside clusters are my favorites.



One of the unique "smiley face" design fireworks that seem to defy the laws of physics. I wonder how they did these?