A friend recently lamented that she was going through her lifetime of pictures and questioning why she ought to keep all the vacation images of landscapes and trees. She raises a good point. Why should/would any of us be interested in these personal mementos? Her question demonstrates the defining line of demarcation between photography as a memory trigger and photography as an art medium — the intended audience.
Jul 7
2 min
I remember a time when producing a technically accomplished photograph was enough to earn applause. I have many. I would now be embarrassed to show them. I now know they are empty of art but undeniably sharp with beautiful tones. Here in the digital age it has become increasingly obvious that technical prowess is a given, still important, but not much of an accomplishment.
Jul 6
2 min
I wish I'd heard of this idea years ago. Each of us has an idea of the best 100 images of our art career. Make a box of prints with those 100 images and store it away someplace safe. If you prefer, make a folder or Lightroom Collection with these 100 images. Make it exactly 100 images. Then periodically review the collection. Once a year, once a quarter, once a month. Add new images that have risen to the honor and remove images that haven't worn well with the passage of time. Keep in mind that it must be 100 only. There are several interesting aspects of this idea that are helpful in moving forward with our art life.
Jul 6
Why is it so difficult to make a personally expressive image in Yosemite? Why do we keep photographing sunsets ad nauseam? Why can't we see the yogurt from the fridge when it's on the counter next to us? Believe it or not, the answer to all these questions is the same.
Jul 5
2 min
The other day I completed a beautiful photograph. Seriously, simply gorgeous. A stunning landscape, magical light, vibrant colors, engaging composition — so wonderful that it took my breath away. I like it; I'm proud of it; I immediately framed it and hung it in a prestigious location here at home. I struggle, however to call it Art.
Jul 4
2 min
Sending our artwork out into the world can be a dicey proposition. We lose control of its fate. Who knows if it will survive or where it will survive. (Maybe it all ends up in the Twiloid Zone. We will likely never know.) To us, once it is gone, it is almost as though it never existed. It resides in us only as a memory — like all other experiences in our life, as a building block to who we have become. Is it more important that we create art or the art life?
Jul 3
2 min
Software and AI are also providing us with tremendous tools. At the same time, there is a risk of allowing them to make aesthetic decisions for us. This is not good. For example, the new "Assisted Culling" tool in Lightroom is designed to replace our human judgment about our failures. I want to look at my failures because that's how I learn.
Jul 2
2 min
Isn't that an odd term? Do we refer to painting as "oil on canvas artwork?" Or sculpture as "carved marble artwork?" Is poetry referred to as "verbal artwork?" Do we use the term photographic artwork because not all photographs are artwork? Or is it that it's somehow important to specify the medium when we refer to artwork made by a human using a camera? Why not just call it artwork and be done with it? Why the extra adjective?
Jul 1
2 min