As I scribbled away on this photo (and the car tire trash cans in the previous entry), I was thinking a lot about the unique qualities of photography as art and how easy it is to be a “poser”. We can pose as and speak as an artist and all our grandiose ideas, but are we really just another guy with a camera?
Why so serious when I was just playing around pens and a print? Well, think of painters as an example. They have to train and learn how to handle the brush in order to create the painting they see in their head (well, that is one way to approach it, anyway). A photographer, once he knows what composition he wants, needs only to press the shutter (especially since most folks function in full-automatic/program mode anyway). I know that is over simplified, but it is hard to argue that painting is more difficult to study than photography. It is like learning piano or balancing the equalizer on your stereo when listening to a great pianist; the basic skills will get you going fast with the equalizer, but not with a keyboard.
Anyway, seeing the elementary-level drawing skill I added to these photos, I just had to wonder on the topic.
What do we have to add to the world with our photography? Now, if we have a wedding or portrait photography business and we earn money by giving people the service of our photographic skills, that is great. That is definitely “adding value” to this world. This is especially true if it puts smiles on the faces of the clients.
What of all the other so-called photographers in this world? Me included. We do not want to trade one addiction for another, moving from gamer to eBay junkie to guy with camera. None of these things is bad in moderation, but anything can be excessive. I do not think I will throw away my camera just yet, but I think it is valuable to think through how we use our skills and gifts. Is it just to make ourselves happy or can we find our own fulfillment out of using photography for others?
It’s interesting how much this photo looks like a cartoon drawing to me, while in a way it is hard to tell there is even a photo behind it! It really shows me how you can broaden horizons with photography… it’s not necessarily just the photo itself! Oh yeah, and just in thinking on your last sentence there, I think I shoot just because it makes me happy, but does that change over time (has it for you?)
Honestly, I do not want to have one more habit or hobby in my life just so I can feel good about myself. My true joy in life sure does not come from photography!
Sure, photography is fun, I enjoy it, but overall, I would have to sum differently if describing what it means to me. One, it is a service to others. I just did a wedding for a friend. Sure I enjoyed every moment of it: the challenge to get it right when you only have one shot to get right and to make photos that will be admired for years to come (at a time in life when most people do not have the money to dish out for some high class photographer).
And two, photography is communication for me. I live in an interesting place. I want my photography to record the life I see around me so I can communicate that to others. People ask all kinds of questions, and photography gives me one more aid, one more medium through which I can more clearly answer those questions about where I live and what that place is like.
Hmm… that’s interesting! I would agree with you that my true joy in life does not come from photography, but getting some joy out of it is why I am interested in photography. I would say that I can communicate and service using photography because of the joy it does bring me! But then again that may just be me… who doesn’t have quite as many years behind the viewfinder as you or others…
Well, I do not want it to sound like the longer I shoot the more it is a duty instead of a pleasure! No, no.
I love it. My point is, though, that (for me) I do not want to have photography just be a hobby. I want it to serve a purpose. Now, if I have fun serving that purpose, all the better.
If others do just want a hobby or something that they enjoy, no worries. But just for me, I want more.