Imperfection in a digital age

[Ken Nadvornick]

Perhaps. But I'm not overly interested in what my audience thinks.

Have you ever clicked and pushed the slider just a little bit too far, then pulled it back because you didn't like the result, regardless of what you thought anyone else in the world might like?

In doing so your are still showing an interest in what your target audience thinks.



Ken

 

[Theo Sulphate]

... But go out and take a great picture, make 2 identical exposures and go back to the darkroom and do your best print. Then take the other neg and put it on the floor and grind it with your foot. Then print it, distress it, tint it and show it to your friends. I bet they will rave over the distressed one.

Wasn't there a painter who became so frustrated at not selling a painting that he threw a can of paint at it - and then people eagerly wanted to buy *that*.

Maybe just anecdotal. Well, at least that would express emotion.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Have you ever clicked and pushed the slider just a little bit too far ...

What is this... "slider" object? Is it a tong? Or, does it sit below the enlarger lens? :- )

 

[blansky]

Have you ever clicked and pushed the slider just a little bit too far, then pulled it back because you didn't like the result, regardless of what you thought anyone else in the world might like?

In doing so your are still showing an interest in what your target audience thinks.



Ken

That makes no sense.

In Photoshop you are constantly moving "sliders" to get what you want. You also make prints that you throw away because it failed to get what you want. I've even framed pictures that a couple of days later I dismantle because something bothered me about it and I started over.

It has nothing to do with what others want.

My target audience is me. I make what I want then I sell that to clients.

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

What is this... "slider" object? Is it a tong? Or, does it sit below the enlarger lens? :- )

Slider Objects

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

My target audience is me. I make what I want...

Precisely my point.



Ken

 

[Sirius Glass]

Now after you've cleaned your digital camera's lens, perfectly retouched every pore and removed every wrinkle, use this new software.

http://petapixel.com/2015/03/12/len...-focus-glass-to-your-photographs/#more-160723


Isn't it ironic?

A fool from his money are soon parted.

 

[dpurdy]

Who is more tired of technically perfect photography, photographers or people who merely enjoy looking at photography? Makers of photographic art or the buyers of photographic art? There is a great element of boredom with clean clear crisp photography. I think the boredom is greatest with the photographers themselves. As a photographer you can aspire to technical perfection and have the finest gear and obsessively perfected technique yet the final product is still boring and redundant or cliche' at best. I think it is the photographer who decides to use serendipity as an element, with technique out of control, sloppy imperfect "alternative" process, developers with limitations, plastic (toy) cameras, and anything that takes control of image quality out of control. Then the photographer can escape the need for the absolute responsibility for every aspect and every square mm of his print. Because if he is to take absolute responsibility for everything about it, it is the photographer him/herself who is boring.
Dennis

 

[blockend]

It's a chair thing. People won't get out of them. Read a digital forum and you'll find photographers with decades of experience who will only manipulate digitally now. It's not the kids, who are much more likely to pick up a film camera, it's the old guys who sold off their SLRs and darkroom and would go to the gates of hell before they'll use another roll.

It's as though the admission digital wasn't the be all and end all of photography would throw their entire world into a spin. These people know how to develop a negative and make a print, but that was then and this is now, damn it. It's about progress, and if progress means an app for crap, that's the way forward boys.

 

[removed account4]

Who is more tired of technically perfect photography, photographers or people who merely enjoy looking at photography? Makers of photographic art or the buyers of photographic art? There is a great element of boredom with clean clear crisp photography. I think the boredom is greatest with the photographers themselves. As a photographer you can aspire to technical perfection and have the finest gear and obsessively perfected technique yet the final product is still boring and redundant or cliche' at best. I think it is the photographer who decides to use serendipity as an element, with technique out of control, sloppy imperfect "alternative" process, developers with limitations, plastic (toy) cameras, and anything that takes control of image quality out of control. Then the photographer can escape the need for the absolute responsibility for every aspect and every square mm of his print. Because if he is to take absolute responsibility for everything about it, it is the photographer him/herself who is boring.
Dennis

hi dennis,

it is possible to make boring trite imperfect photographs as much as it is possible to make boring trite clinically perfect photographs, isn't it ?
either way ( clinical or not ) is fine by me, the both have their place, but i often enjoy putting a little wabi sabi in my work.
its like adding a little curry to the mayo in a chickensalad sandwich.

 

[blansky]

It's a chair thing. People won't get out of them. Read a digital forum and you'll find photographers with decades of experience who will only manipulate digitally now. It's not the kids, who are much more likely to pick up a film camera, it's the old guys who sold off their SLRs and darkroom and would go to the gates of hell before they'll use another roll.

It's as though the admission digital wasn't the be all and end all of photography would throw their entire world into a spin. These people know how to develop a negative and make a print, but that was then and this is now, damn it. It's about progress, and if progress means an app for crap, that's the way forward boys.

I agree everyone got lazy. And some old timers are searching for the good old days. But talking digital as if it's the same for everyone, is really a fallacy.

Snapshooters have always used what is quick and easy. Instamatics, Polaroids, Brownies etc and now they use digital with their computer or they use a cell phone.

I think when analyzing digital you need to differentiate between "photographers " and snap shooters. One is a rational choice and the other is just convenience.

The few people who consider themselves photographers, whether amateur or pro, make a conscious choice and what appeals to them about their choice. Some people don't have room for a darkroom, or maybe just prefer the photoshop advantages. Other people choose the analog methods because they like the smell of fixer in the morning and love the connection to the past. Others love the final results more with one over the other.

Lots of reasons for different choices.

 

[blansky]

Who is more tired of technically perfect photography, photographers or people who merely enjoy looking at photography? Makers of photographic art or the buyers of photographic art? There is a great element of boredom with clean clear crisp photography. I think the boredom is greatest with the photographers themselves. As a photographer you can aspire to technical perfection and have the finest gear and obsessively perfected technique yet the final product is still boring and redundant or cliche' at best. I think it is the photographer who decides to use serendipity as an element, with technique out of control, sloppy imperfect "alternative" process, developers with limitations, plastic (toy) cameras, and anything that takes control of image quality out of control. Then the photographer can escape the need for the absolute responsibility for every aspect and every square mm of his print. Because if he is to take absolute responsibility for everything about it, it is the photographer him/herself who is boring.
Dennis

I think most photographers go through phases of what they like and what eventually bores them. HDR is all over the place now and rarely is it subtle. A few years a go it was Gaussian blur.

Much like the bride and groom superimposed in the wine glass, all things have trends. Classic portraiture is starting to see a resurgence after a few years of snapshot portraits.

In some cases its photographers trying to be hip and different and in others its a total lack of talent.

But I agree all trends start with the photographer and trickle down to the viewer. And the perfection of digital for a few years was too perfect and too boring.