Thoughts about Photography

 It could be the most accessible of the arts. Everyone has easy access to some form of a camera. Point and capture. Unlimited tries.

We also live in a world that is flooded with photographs. How many do you see a day? This makes it hard to quantify what makes a good image and even to appreciate decent amateur photography. The implications of using software to reengineer images is similar to how computers ruined chess.

However, there is still a lot there and a real sense of freedom when one has a camera in their hand. Holding a camera firmly places you in the realm of an observer, at once detaching yourself from the present and encouraging reflective thinking. Suddenly one can duplicate and set apart one piece of reality and create something new. This is fascinating. Different angles create different commentaries and layers of meaning.

Patience is the key that unlocks all the doors of photography. The ability to calmly shoot many images, reimagine them, erase them, keep going, keep exploring, keep hunting. Of course, sometimes one gets lucky and a perfect shot appears from just a passing glance. This sense of luck and patient cunning are what makes photography interesting and elusive.

Photography has often been compared to painting but I think this only happens sometimes, with the most incredible images. They are different. With painting an artist carefully plans an image that produces a desired effect. At all times the painter has complete control blending sudden insights and planned technique. With photography an artist carefully cultivates skill and then lets the shutter fly like a thrown net, capturing a moment which is either planned or ethereal. There is something a bit mystic about a good photograph, as if maybe it almost didn´t happen or if it did it could barely have happened. Conversely, a good image could reveal something ordinary and say something new about it.

It is pretty easy to start shooting pictures, so get to it.