Deep contemplation
As I mentioned in my previous post, being on holiday gives me a chance to get away from daily distractions, but at the same time my brain seems to go into deep dive mode on things that concern me. I’ll chat about a few of these here and you maybe (or maybe not), recognise them as things that you too have pondered from time to time.
Ever since the first time I picked up a camera, I wanted my photos to be the best. I would devour magazines and go to the library (the internet had not been invented yet), and pour over books looking for technique tips and inspiration. It seemed that there was a lot to take in on the technical side but what would I photograph? Do I shoot everything and anything? Do I concentrate in one genre? I tended to be in the camp of the former at first and had a stab at most forms of photography. I then migrated to the later and documentary/street photography has been my passion for some time now. It still eludes me though as to what makes a great photo and how it manages to get published or win awards. The subjectivity in photography, and most art forms, is a minefield. I took some magazines on holiday with me (mainly B&W Magazine and RPS Journals), and had a good peruse of their contents. There were images in both publications that had me thinking “why?”. I would never have contemplated taking that shot never mind sharing it, but here it was printed in a premium photography magazine. Most of the shots that had me confused fell into what could be called “Fine Art” photography and produced by highly qualified people who feel passionately about what they are doing. It got me wondering if publishers or editors review the CV or qualification levels of those submitting images before they chose them for the publication or is there still hope for the many self taught amateurs doing great work?
