Digital BW, The Print

Photography when done for personal expression is an art form. If one 
wishes to photograph pretty pictures, then that is where it will 
remain..pretty pictures. And while it is true that many wish 
to "express themselves, or their feelings, that is not what sustains 
art. The (pick a word) emotional response, reaction, relationship of 
an image to personal feelings (the viewers) takes an image from a 
flat plane to a thought process. And the ability to explore themes 
and have the viewer  explore these themes with you (from their point 
of reference), while producing a piece that is beautiful, or 
compelling, that I believe is the aim of the artist. One may need a 
book to talk about form, relationships of images in space, etc, but 
a book cannot teach one to think by looking and creating.

This forum is important to someone like me, a non technical person 
who must move to the new medium to continue to create. And although 
half the things talked about are over my head, my learning curve is 
strng, and many of you have been personally helpful.





In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Djon" 
<westsidemaurice@y...> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> Simply count the words when we explain our art, photography, or
> philosophy. Especially telling is the use of "I." 
> 
> Word count, conscious or unconscious, the sure way others measure 
our
> honesty and merit, as opposed to our self delusion, smoke and 
mirrors.
> 
> Visiting a museum one will rarely useful commentary about a 
photograph
> by a photographer.
> 
> Edward Weston talked about his his daily life, especially his
> excitements, in his Daybooks. He didn't talk about self expression.
> 
> John
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Francis Ford
> <francisford45@y...> wrote:
> > I have been a photographer for 35 years and what you
> > eloquently said is the reason I'm still doing
> > it.....Bravo.  Francis Ford
> > --- Johnny Eades <jeades1@s...> wrote:
> > > 
> > > I don't feel ego should be any part of photography
> > > for self-expression. 
> > > It's the complete loss of ego that enables one to
> > > express their true 
> > > feelings (self expression) for the moment of
> > > revelation that happens on 
> > > rare instances that the photographer is compelled to
> > > attempt to express 
> > > it via a photograph. Visual accomplishment doesn't
> > > equal self 
> > > achievement; the moment of realizing that this image
> > > is important 
> > > because it portrays the equivalent of my feelings at
> > > the time. An 
> > > example I'll offer is while photographing at Atalaya
> > > (the summer home 
> > > of Archie Huntington) at Huntington Beach in South
> > > Carolina, I came 
> > > across a large room that had a single bench that was
> > > lit by the sun 
> > > streaming through a large side window. The rest of
> > > the room was in ive 
> > > darkness. I had recently gone through the death of
> > > my wife and when I 
> > > saw this image, I knew I had to make it. The lonely
> > > bench in the large 
> > > room and lit by the light spoke to me just as
> > > certainly as if a voice 
> > > had said it. What it said was "Lonely, but never
> > > alone" and thankfully 
> > > I had enough technical ability to capture it as I
> > > felt it and the 
> > > resulting print also spoke to me. I had to work on
> > > the print to enable 
> > > its voice, but the result was good. I feel that most
> > > photographers who 
> > > do this as a serious hobby have self-expression as
> > > the underlying 
> > > reason. 
> > > 
> > > Your friend in Photography,
> > > 
> > > Johnny
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com,
> > > "Djon" 
> > > <westsidemaurice@y...> wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > One especially nice thing about commercial work is
> > > that one doesn't
> > > > need to involve his ego, he can just do the
> > > discipline and make
> > > > pictures. As a result a person can sometimes
> > > accomplish a lot 
> > > visually. 
> > > > 
> > > > I'm not convinced that most people (or I myself)
> > > have enough
> > > > "internal" stuff to make "self expression"
> > > worthwhile.
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> > 		
> > __________________________________ 
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