From ‘Good’ to ‘Great”

I started to post to my photoblog today, but decided against it.
There’s a big difference between a good photograph, and a great one. I have a lot of good ones, only a few great ones, I think. I know I’m my own worst critic, but I also know my own potential. And I know that I won’t stop, my next great photo is within arm’s reach.

This is what I was going to post:

It’s a good image, nicely composed, good contrast….but it isn’t great. It’s lacking. And I’m not sure what I would have, or could have, done differently to make it better….maybe move in closer, or have the two guys a little more off-centered. Or maybe this is as good as it gets, it’s just not that interesting enough of a scene.

Anyway…more on my ‘journey for a personal style’….

I talked to my husband about it…and I’m disappointed in myself for not talking with him about it sooner. I told him how I felt my photographs are all over the map -style wise. He really knows me better than anyone. His response was: “Chantal, that’s your personality. You don’t like to be classified into any specific category in any other area of your life, why would your photography be any different?”

He’s so right. It is my personality. Why do I feel the need to pigeon-hole myself into any particualr genre? Instead of seeing it as a detriment, I choose to see it as an advantage. I’m versatile.

From On Being a Photographer:

“A unique style…is the by-product of visual exploration, not its goal. Personal vision comes only from not aiming at it. Over a long period of time and through many, many images, the self re-emerges with even greater strength than if it were the end-product. Ironically, by starting with self, it is missed; ignore it, and it becomes evident.”

I promise I’m over the ‘personal style’ issue.

On On Being a Photographer Part 1

I recently read On Being a Photographer by David Hurn and Bill Jay. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically a practical guide book describing methods used by the best photographers, and how to employ these methods for yourself. It’s not a “how to shoot” guide, insofar as it doesn’t teach how to operate your camera, or how to take a light-meter reading, or how-to-print techniques, etc. It’s more about how to approach a project and how to think like the pros.

Most of the book reads like a conversation between two old friends, each with a long history in photography and two very different, yet very successful careers. It’s kind of like eavesdropping on a discussion revealing the secrets to photographic success.

I thought about writing a review, but really I could write a whole other book just about this book. It’s not very often that I read something I feel really changes me…alters my perception or opens my eyes to new ideas. OBAP is one of those books.

Instead, I’m just going to periodically take a point from the book, and discuss how I feel it can apply to me, or how I choose to apply it to my photography.

One of the things I had been struggling with lately is feeling like I lacked a clear ’style’. I would look at so many other photographers’ work and I could always easily identify their style, or some unique signature to all of their images. When I would look through my own portfolio, I could never see that. I would try to be as objective as possible, but I just realized that my body of work was all over the map.

I know what I like, and I definitely know what I don’t like. I know what kind of photographs I don’t want to take. But I really struggled with my apparent lack of a signature. I imagine I equated it with a lack of talent.

I suppose I adopted the romantic notion of using photography as a vehicle to ‘express myself’….like my images were some sort of extension of who I am, and that somehow they need to reflect ME. The problem with this thinking is that you begin to alienate your subject.

It is possible for photographs to reveal something about the photographer. The image is, after all, what the photographer sees. It is the photographer who decides when to release the shutter, how to compose the image. By extension the image becomes the photographers clear view of the scene. When we look at an image, we’re looking at something, but more importantly, we’re looking at this something through the eyes of the photographer.

My mistake was that I began to shoot trying to create my own style, as opposed to letting my style develop on its own.

From OBAP (pg.49):

Let us make the point clear: when the subject takes precedence, you not only start the journey towards personal style but you also discover the sheer joy of visually responding to the world. It solves a lot of doubts, clears away all confusion.

I think for me, too much emphasis has been put on being an artist, when it should have been on carefully selecting a subject and shooting it to the best of my ability.

I won’t make that mistake again. Subject comes first.

New Direction

I’ve reached a point in my photography where I feel like it’s time for me to assess where I have been, what I am doing, and where I am going. I could keep going on as I have been, shooting aimlessly most of the time, with a brief project here and there, but never really going anywhere, or I can more closely direct my focus towards a tangible goal. I choose the latter.

Photography is my passion, and for as long as I can remember, it’s the only thing I have ever wanted to do. And it’s time for me to stop saying what I want to do, and just do it.

I’ve decided to take a short break from my photoblog and spend sometime developing a couple new projects. In the beginning, this blog was my “thoughts diary”….then I started writing more on my photoblog, and only posting articles here. But I’m going to spend some more time over here, working out ideas, sharing thoughts as they come to me. Putting my thoughts on the screen…seeing the words, helps me to see more clearly.

Now I need to go buy some more film.

Come Live the LifeVicarious

How many times have you, while sitting behind your little desk, in your little cubicle, thought about just packing your bags and leaving it all behind? How often have you thought about exploring the world, experiencing new and exotic cultures, new smells, new tastes, and new adventures? What would it take for you to do it, to take the plunge, to head out there to places unknown-at least to you, alone, with no set plan, just you and your camera, to document our world?

It would take a lot, right? A lot of money, but even then, many of us have spouses, children, mortgages, student loans, the list goes on. We may still have the dream, but our reality always steps in. Until now. Now we can travel the globe, see the places of our dreams, take off at a moments notice, and live life vicariously, through the lens of someone else.

Read More…

Five Years of Dicksdaily

This article was originally written for Photoblogs.org, and first appeard on Sept.1, 2006.

How many of us get excited when we reach our 100th post, or our 500th comment, or even our one year anniversary? Well, we all have large shoes to fill. Today, September 1, 2006, marks the five year anniversary of Dicksdaily, a photoblog by Richard Partridge.

A true photoblogging veteran, and one who helped to pioneer the genre, Richard began his photoblog as a project to motivate himself to carry his camera everywhere and shoot everyday, with the intention to then post the images. In Richard’s words:

“The aim of Dicksdaily was to get me to take a picture everyday – rather than just post a picture everyday, and to make sure that wherever I went, my camera went with me. I’m usually the sort of person who starts writing a diary on the 1st Jan only to finish by the 2nd – but somehow I’ve manage to keep Dicksdaily up – and yes – I have taken at least one picture everyday for those last five years.”

With over 3,000 images posted, Dicksdaily is a virtual tour of greater London, as seen through Richard’s eyes: “Four weddings, two funerals, 9/11, 7/7 – a general election, two world cups and more chairs and shopping trolleys than I can imagine”. Images in color, black and white, digital and film, all grace the pages of this site that is beautifully designed by Richard himself, and easily navigated.

Richard’s photographs are often spontaneous, sometimes even humorous, but always brilliant and exact. Over the past five years, he has captured everything that has crossed his path, from street signs to park benches; from people to grand landscapes; from inside his own home to scenes from his travels. Rain is a common theme among Richard’s images, as are random street scenes in true Magnum fashion, as well as the quiet and forgotten corners, in which only a true artist’s eye can find the beauty.

In addition to being a living legend among photobloggers, Richard is a website designer and an extremely talented and accomplished fine artist, who has exhibited his paintings and drawings throughout London and the surrounding area. He also runs a project called The Way We See It, a London based photography group that selects a new location to shoot every week.

What’s next for Richard? “I’m just looking forward to the next five years now”, he modestly states. And so are we. Richard, we here at Photoblogs.org, salute you!