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.
"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.
No comments:
Post a Comment