Photography is a magical art and an underrated tool: Combined with modern photo storage it is the biggest boost to memory since the invention of writing. I have for you here some notes on it’s usefulness and the art. In the next post I will have a few more notes and my personal editing process for putting photos up.
This is so, so good. It encapsulates everything I feel about photography – the words I could never put together.
I was going through TIME's most popular images (subjective), and the common trait was that it was all pieces of documentation/important events in history. It was a big turning point for me to realize photography on a personal level is about lifelong memories, over landscapes and `pretty` views. You alluded to it below.
"What was interesting was seeing my uncle and mother as children, and how they got on in their RV. This has always stuck with me, and for years I tried to not take any photos unless a person was in frame. (I’ve relaxed this quite a bit in recent years)."
I agree with you that taking pictures helps to get new perspectives and to learn to notice things you otherwise would not have noticed, but I'm not sure that it necessarly connects the photographer with the world. IMHO it is all a question of intent: which is the intention behind shooting that picture ?
Is it just for sharing the picture on social media and bragging about something or is it for the sake to improve your style and get feedback of other photographers or something complete else ?
You know, David Hockney initially distained photography.
He said "photography is alright if you don't mind looking at the world from the point of view of a paralyzed cyclops-for a split second. But that's not what it's like to live in the world or convey the experience of living in the world."
He came round to the medium eventually and developed a technique where he joined photos of the same image into a grid. It fulfilled is preference that his art reflect the passage of time.
This was a really good read. I've used the frame of pictures as a memory aid for some time now, but there were some things you made explicit here that really crystallize that.
1. The comparison between photography and writing seems strong.
2. The starting from what kinds of photos to take. That point hit hard too.
I like to take a lot of pictures on my phone of the 'mundane' and 'normal life' stuff. I'm been pondering whether to actually invest in a camera to take around with me. What's your process of documenting things like this? It's certainly easier to take pictures of regular life if you have a smart phone with you but I feel like I would be more appreciative of the pictures if I used a proper camera. Don't know. Any thoughts? What do you use to take pictures?
This is so, so good. It encapsulates everything I feel about photography – the words I could never put together.
I was going through TIME's most popular images (subjective), and the common trait was that it was all pieces of documentation/important events in history. It was a big turning point for me to realize photography on a personal level is about lifelong memories, over landscapes and `pretty` views. You alluded to it below.
"What was interesting was seeing my uncle and mother as children, and how they got on in their RV. This has always stuck with me, and for years I tried to not take any photos unless a person was in frame. (I’ve relaxed this quite a bit in recent years)."
Great post! Totally unrelated question, but what's the title of the gardening book shown in the first photo? :)
I agree with you that taking pictures helps to get new perspectives and to learn to notice things you otherwise would not have noticed, but I'm not sure that it necessarly connects the photographer with the world. IMHO it is all a question of intent: which is the intention behind shooting that picture ?
Is it just for sharing the picture on social media and bragging about something or is it for the sake to improve your style and get feedback of other photographers or something complete else ?
Lovely piece.
You know, David Hockney initially distained photography.
He said "photography is alright if you don't mind looking at the world from the point of view of a paralyzed cyclops-for a split second. But that's not what it's like to live in the world or convey the experience of living in the world."
He came round to the medium eventually and developed a technique where he joined photos of the same image into a grid. It fulfilled is preference that his art reflect the passage of time.
Check out 'Gregory in a pool' for starters.
Scott
This was a really good read. I've used the frame of pictures as a memory aid for some time now, but there were some things you made explicit here that really crystallize that.
1. The comparison between photography and writing seems strong.
2. The starting from what kinds of photos to take. That point hit hard too.
I like to take a lot of pictures on my phone of the 'mundane' and 'normal life' stuff. I'm been pondering whether to actually invest in a camera to take around with me. What's your process of documenting things like this? It's certainly easier to take pictures of regular life if you have a smart phone with you but I feel like I would be more appreciative of the pictures if I used a proper camera. Don't know. Any thoughts? What do you use to take pictures?