https://www.americansuburbx.com/2012/01/interview-ben-sloat-with-larry-sultan.html
" Part of the difficulty facing photographers is that almost any subject matter has accumulated a representational history, so to find a new discursive space, a space to wander around those subject matters, is a real challenge. If I know too much, if the narrative is too well formed, I’m making pictures that are illustrative, and as a maker, that’s not interesting. As a viewer, that’s not interesting. "
"I’ve actually thought about stopping photographing for a while and just writing, maybe that would get closer to the bone."
Larry Sultan had a reflex Graflex for sale, 3.25X4.25 when he was an instructor at San Francisco Art Institute, a few years after I decided on a different path. I decided not to buy that camera.
In this interview, Sultan doesn't find illustrative photos interesting...whereas me, I like to see how the a photographer has dealt with the challenge of the subject. I think some "art photographers" might find their work more fulfilling if they embraced challenges, just as commercial photographers typically do...rather than merely capturing moments.
" Part of the difficulty facing photographers is that almost any subject matter has accumulated a representational history, so to find a new discursive space, a space to wander around those subject matters, is a real challenge. If I know too much, if the narrative is too well formed, I’m making pictures that are illustrative, and as a maker, that’s not interesting. As a viewer, that’s not interesting. "
"I’ve actually thought about stopping photographing for a while and just writing, maybe that would get closer to the bone."
Larry Sultan had a reflex Graflex for sale, 3.25X4.25 when he was an instructor at San Francisco Art Institute, a few years after I decided on a different path. I decided not to buy that camera.
In this interview, Sultan doesn't find illustrative photos interesting...whereas me, I like to see how the a photographer has dealt with the challenge of the subject. I think some "art photographers" might find their work more fulfilling if they embraced challenges, just as commercial photographers typically do...rather than merely capturing moments.
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