@farktographer
Forum Replies Created
-
I see where he’s coming from. I think the standard for amateur photographer now is “snap one item that pops in a sea of other items, add a shitload of contrast, maybe black and white it, give it a fancy title and deep description, and TA-DA! ART!” When I scan through flickr, I see tons of these floating about, not actually having meaning except for the meaning the photographer forces into it.
Personally, looking at some of the work the Dusseldorf style has brought, I can appreciate it when it’s done right. I just think it’s something that’s been overdone, so that gives it a bad name.
I think the thing that annoys me the most is when someone has to describe to me what I should feel about their photograph. It’s like going wine tasting, hating a wine, and having the server give you 100 reasons why you should LOVE this wine. No, this is how I feel, and that’s that. If I look at a photograph and it doesn’t pull me in with emotion, giving me a paragraph explanation of what I *should* feel about the loneliness and detachment and rapturous beauty you supposedly achieved isn’t going to help. I’ll just look at it and think, “nope – if that’s what you’re going for, you need to try again.”
Example…here’s one of my shots with a Holga. I like it because of the contrasting colours, the balance, and the contrast. I don’t really get a grab of “emotion” from it, but that’s alright with me.
Now, from what I can gather in this article, the author is despising making a photograph something more than it really is. Imagine I put a fancy title – called it “Wachsende aus der Tiefe” which is what I got with a quick google translate of “Growing from the Depth.” Now, I add the description, “Heroic flowers rising above the darkness that attempts to engulf them – as shadows surround them, they endure and bloom to bring a new light to the world that desperately needs them. The long stalks will not allow them to detach, and as the sun falls they will be swallowed to doom and their light will, inevitably, leave this planet empty. For this one moment, however, there is hope.”
Okay, I’m not all too well trained in literature, so I’m sure I could come up with something better, but the point is I’m now forcing you to feel emotion for this photograph. And for some people, the ones who are really convincing, it works. If you’re suave and can talk well, you can convince people your artwork is fantastic even if, really, there’s nothing there. I know pretentious people that LOVE that sort of bullshit (I once had a 20 page book report rough draft due and couldn’t fill the final 3 pages. I bullshitted it – complete and utter with no substance bullshit. The professor LOVED those three pages and asked that I do the entire report on it…these are the sorts of pretentious twats I imagine loving art with explained emotion). At least, that’s what I’m taking away from this article.
/TL;DR
