On Photography

The point of my photo projects is to think about taking pictures around a theme or an idea. When I found that I was growing unhappy taking pictures of pretty things, it naturally led to two questions. First, am I just unhappy with photography? The answer to this question was the same after an a period of intense examination that it was when I first posed it to myself, a resounding “No.” I do like taking pictures. I’m not disappointed with the medium or even with my ability to produce images I’m pleased with. Though I could always improve, I’ve reached a point where my technical and artistic abilities do not frequently stand in the way of me capturing a specific image. The second question is not dispatched with so easily. If I don’t want to take pictures of pretty things, then what do I want to take pictures of? If individual images of interesting or pretty or unique objects don’t appeal to me, then what does? This is a much harder question to answer. In order to begin dealing with this, I’m forced to answer what value or use I think photography has specifically as a medium in general and for me in particular.

Let me be upfront about the fact that I don’t know that this is a question which ever gets resolved. I could be refining, revising and completely re-writing my response for the rest of my life. I have every reason to believe that my response will change as I change and that the pursuit of the answer will change me as well. I also firmly believe that the best way for me to seek this answer or at least journey toward it is through contemplative action. The essays and books that I’m reading on the subject of photography are a great resource, but probably not very useful for me unless I’m coupling them with experience in the field so that I can truly begin to think of my photography as being in a conversation with other artists ideas and pictures. This blog will become the repository where I can begin engaging with these ideas in a permanent, ongoing way. I'm sure my ideas will change and that someday I'll look back on this and realize how silly, naive, and generally unsophisticated these early responses are, but I have to start somewhere.

So for the first part of my answer, I think I can confidently say that I want to do three things:

1. Think of my photography as a voice in a running conversation.

2. Take pictures of ideas, not of things. This applies even to portraits. I would be unhappy with a group of pictures of interesting looking people. There needs to be some common thread beyond that. I don’t think that physical location is going to be enough either. So while there might be a lot of interesting people who live in West Texas or New England, I want something more. There needs to be another commonality or theme to make a subject appealing to me.

3. I’m a writer at heart. It is currently impossible for me to think about photographs apart from captions. Thus, my work will almost inevitably involve some sort of writing which I’ll dub extended captions for my purposes. I would almost always rather have these captions be the words of someone else, ideally the subject, but I understand too that that may not be possible as I cannot expect people to think about themselves in the same way that I do. However, I hope to be able to get what I need through conversations, relationships, and interviews.