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I viewed a number of websites today, of supposedly "hot" photographers recommended by various and sundry on-line sources. Like most dedicated amateurs and my professional peers, I love looking at other photographer's works. It often inspires me, it calls me to learn, to stretch, to grow, and to become more than I am now. And there are many fine and talented artists in my chosen medium and profession. Yet in these specific photographers I viewed today, I was very, very disappointed.
The text for all these sites explained in various words and phrases that they aren't "stuffy" and don't require their subjects to be stiffly posed while someone adjusts lights and drops and props forever in a dark room somewhere (like ... other ... photographers). These photographers say they, unlike ... other photographers ... present "real" people and "real" moments in"real" places. And that they can do it anywhere, unlike other photographers.
It's a bit of an over-the-top condemnation of so many of my peers, but I always want to see what a photographer can do with that camera before judging their skills and abilities. There's the old line, it ain't braggin' if you can do it. And some can!
In the picture galleries these photographers showed I could not detect any consistant knowledge of light and it's effect on the photographic image past the concept of getting enough quantity of light into the camera for a basic "exposure". Um, Houston, we have a problem here ...
The camera only captures the color and quantities of light that enters and is focused by the lens. Cameras do not have a "substance detector" circuit or chip. In reality, light IS the image! Those "real" ... things ... out there, that we point our cameras at, do NOT exist to the camera! To it, there is only ... light. To a camera, there is no reality, no substance, no solidity ... only light. The understanding of this basic fact is the FIRST step to understanding the craft of the photographic image. And a constant stumbling block for those of us who always think we have this mastered!
The majority of the images shown in these sites were of people who were "flat", almost like poorly-drawn cartoon characters, with no dimension, no depth, no substance. Sometimes the expressions were animated, sometimes there was movement shown, but often, even the expressions were as flat as the cartoon characters they inhabited. The eyes were quite commonly dark-shadowed holes in the faces of the subjects, especially in the little ones whose eyes should show us the wonder of the world around us. One face of an image would be so bright there was little if any detail left in the skin, yet another person's face was shadowed so darkly I couldn't see the expression.
And I still clearly saw people uncomfortable to be in front of a camera. For all the photographers' expressed intention at letting their subjects be "natural", they still had their fair share of subjects for whom this was clearly NOT natural.
In the midst of these galleries were a very precious few images with beauty and grace, with subjects that were properly placed with regard to each other and the light falling upon the scene. Some few images that I enjoyed seeing and in which all the people have substance and depth, the photographic illusion of reality. But these few beautiful images are clearly and only simple accidents of nature for the photographers whose sites I visited today, and not the display of an artist's craft.
But this to me, is worse: they all chose to denigrate those photographers who have the knowledge and skill to do the rest of the job. The majority of the jobs, tasks, and skills of being a people-photographer, in fact. The numerous parts of the job these photographers are either unaware of or (perhaps) unwilling to learn.
And I was left with this most amazing impression: these photographers are PROUD of this!
Occasionally ignorance is bliss. Most of the time it's just ignorance. The combination of pride and and ignorance is most often just ... sad.
Capturing "real" moments is a necessary part of the professional's craft, but only one of several necessary parts! No matter how you try and spin it, ANY moment captured as part of a photographic session is a created moment. A skilled and experienced professional not only can help the subjects to create those moments any time and any place, but also knows how to light and sculpt that moment for the camera so that your eye is captured by the resultant image and will enjoy studying that image for many years to come. Any time, any place.
Are there boring techno-geek photographers out there? Yes, of course ... just like there are un-skilled picture snappers who are proud of their ignorance. And as we are always simply humans, no more nor no less, we will always have them among us.
But walking and working among us are those whose images make me cry, laugh, and sing at the same time ... and whose craft and spirit drive me to be better than what I am now. To serve my clients and my fellow humans with every bit of wisdom, craft, and shred of humanity I may possess. And to challenge my self and my peers to become what we CAN become, both for our own best develpment and for the service we will then provide to our clients.
Learning and growing is always hard work and often humbling. We stumble continually into our own inadequacies and are forced to learn and to grow to show that we ARE the stuff of stars and not just a lump of useless clay. We aren't just a lump of clay, we can be ... and can become ... worthy of those who show the way. And worthy of those who need the images of their loved ones that we can provide.
And along that way, the path of LIFE, are those moments of shining brilliance that make LIFE worth the living and the sweat and the terrors and the tears. Settling for less in our selves is unworthy and demeaning. Let's get on with it!
