Music | Body and Soul by John Coltrane
Maybe it is time I stop hitting the photography forums for awhile and stop reading what other folks have to say... It seems that I need a sharp attitude adjustment because I can feel tension build up around every other thread regarding photography. The latest thing that is bugging me was a question brought up about how this one photographer is shooting everything in film, but scans the image and makes large format prints on a ink jet printer... But because he feels the term ink jet slurs his "art", and he can't figure out a way to describe it himself, he asks the forum what they think an inkjet print should be called... Ask this question on any photo forum and you will get the same answers... Don't call them "Giclee" because it is an overused term or that it is used to deceive, inciting that it is more than just an inkjet print... Another term to use is "Archival Pigment print on Cotton Rag", or whatever the medium the ink or pigment is being printed on. How about "Pigment Print", or "Pigment Ink Print", or maybe this one... "Epson professional photo printer using archival inks".
I understand why so many "photographers" feel the need to "educate" their viewers, but when all is said and done, does the question about content or meaning ever come into question? I'm getting to the point of knowing mediocrity is good enough, if you have enough megapixels or fancy words to describe your work (not that the work itself should ever be held responsible for what the "artist" is trying to say), you suddenly have the credentials of being a real artist...
How about this... shut up all ready and just create for the sake of creating. Spend one hour with your camera and actually go out and take some pictures. When you get home, print your favorite photo and show it to some of your friends and talk about what you did. Show some backbone and be responsible for what you created, with no excuses and stand proudly behind your photo... Do this a few times and maybe you can stop looking for validation on the internet and start living in the real world...
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4 comments:
spoken like a true artist! Sometimes it is good to just walk away (at least for a while) and get back your own perspective!
I know exactly what you mean: I ran into these problems (in the music recording equivalent) back when I was trying to become a rockstar. I thought that everything would work out if I just played my guitar really well and wrote good tunes: Boy was I was flat-assed wrong. Then I ran into it several years ago when I turned to classical piano music; a niche-market brimming with bitchy sadism and even more politics. Anywhere you go, in any art form you will find hipsters, snobs, and other exclusionists. I have no pro-photography aspirations because this is my last refuge of fun. I got a day job and I don't need the stress.
Spoken "by a true artist"
I hear 'ya. People are so easily distracted by unimportant things.
Cameras are just tools, right?
I guess for may folks an image takes back seat to cameras as les objets de fétiche.
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