Nobody cares about your photography

Mainecoonmaniac · Jun 29, 2016

Ted is right and very philosophical about this. But my take is APUGers care about each other's work that's why we help and support each other.

Photography is like life. Nobody cares about your life, but it's your own and we have to make it meaningful. We have to find internal motivation to live life and shoot photos. Preferably with film

http://petapixel.com/2016/06/28/nobody-cares-photography/

gone · Jun 29, 2016

I agree. Well, the credit card companies seem pretty darned interested in my health and well being and the wife likes me, occasionally, and the beautiful cat who loved me got cancer and is no more among us....... Yes, we have to make our brief lives meaningful. In deference to the wizened sage Mick Jagger, I think we can always get what we need, but we seldom get what we want (and lord help us if we actually get it)

Ordinarily I don't like Rumi, he drones on and on, but this gem below is very short. My take on it is that meaning and joy come from within, by how we process our life, and we should cherish even the suffering, even as we suffer. The miraculous, non rational thing about this is when we suffer and don't try to escape it or end it, if we say "alright, this is hell, but it's MY hell, and I love it because it's mine and I embrace it", it dissipates. Magic. As for my photography, I am not sure if I care or not.

http://www.elise.com/quotes/rumi_-_guest_house

cliveh · Jun 29, 2016

What would Atget say about this? I don't think he would care what others thought, only that he did.

Mainecoonmaniac · Jun 29, 2016

cliveh said:
What would Atget say about this? I don't think he would care what others thought, only that he did.

Luckily Berenice Abbott care about his work so we know about Atget's work.

btaylor · Jun 29, 2016

Ugh. "Images that Matter."

Do your best with what you have. Be happy.

Stop with that external validation crap. And yes, thank you, Berenice.

Richard S. (rich815) · Jun 29, 2016

I only care if you like my work. If you don't, well, I don't care. That keeps me happy.

Theo Sulphate · Jun 29, 2016

Pretentious, overanalytical pap. How does someone like that ever trip the shutter?

The guy is just wrong. Some people do like and care about others' work. Not every shot needs to be intended for art galleries.

Richard S. (rich815) · Jun 29, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
Pretentious, overanalytical pap. How does someone like that ever trip the shutter?

The guy is just wrong. Some people do like and care about others' work. Not every shot needs to be intended for art galleries.

Haha. I love how he's positioned the video with all his cameras on lit up shelves behind him.

Patrick Robert James · Jun 30, 2016

He is totally right.

benjiboy · Jun 30, 2016

I don't care if anyone" cares about my work", my work is like my singing in the shower I enjoy it.

SpartanD63 · Jun 30, 2016

I agree. To a point. The whole "make work that matters" thing is kinda pretentious. My take? Make work that matters TO YOU. If it matters to someone else, great. If not, at least it matters to you and don't care what anyone else thinks.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

Vaughn · Jun 30, 2016

Basically, what I heard him say is, "Do meaningful work." The rest was just supporting arguments with a provocative concept to wrap it all around. Sounded good to me.

chriscrawfordphoto · Jun 30, 2016

A lot of people care about my work. Enough to pay me for my prints, which is how I support myself and my son. That's true for a lot of people. I didn't even bother watching the video. The written article makes clear that the guy is just trying to discourage people from even trying.

markbau · Jun 30, 2016

Fun fact: If every photo ever made disappeared tonight, the sun would still rise in the morning. Pros have to care if people like their work if they want to eat, non pros are free to do as they please and don't have to please anybody. I'm so glad someone mentioned self validation. People who have difficulty self validating care deeply what others think of their work, it's the same in all artistic mediums, for some people the medium is simply a way to get a few crumbs of recognition, these people always play it safe and colour inside the lines, they form mutual admiration societies which are so its members can stroke each others ego. Artistic dead ends! I loved the video.

Chan Tran · Jun 30, 2016

I think nobody cares about my photography and so I don't show them to nobody and not posting on the social media.

chriscrawfordphoto · Jun 30, 2016

markbau said:
Fun fact: If every photo ever made disappeared tonight, the sun would still rise in the morning. Pros have to care if people like their work if they want to eat, non pros are free to do as they please and don't have to please anybody. I'm so glad someone mentioned self validation. People who have difficulty self validating care deeply what others think of their work, it's the same in all artistic mediums, for some people the medium is simply a way to get a few crumbs of recognition, these people always play it safe and colour inside the lines, they form mutual admiration societies which are so its members can stroke each others ego. Artistic dead ends! I loved the video.

The damage to our culture would be extreme if every photograph ever made disappeared. Of course the sun would still rise. So what. The sky would still rise if we exterminated ourselves in a nuclear war. Doesn't mean nuclear war isn't bad, or that the loss of our cultural heritage from the loss of all photos isn't bad, too.

removed account4 · Jun 30, 2016

nice video as always, mainecoonmaniac ...thanks for posting it !

everyone wants to be their own truman show. likes on photographs is only part of it.

RalphLambrecht · Jun 30, 2016

Vaughn said:
Basically, what I heard him say is, "Do meaningful work." The rest was just supporting arguments with a provocative concept to wrap it all around. Sounded good to me.

art should disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed

blockend · Jun 30, 2016

Photographs survive best in print. The opportunity to make books has never been easier, or cheaper.

TheRook · Jun 30, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
Pretentious, overanalytical pap. How does someone like that ever trip the shutter?

The guy is just wrong. Some people do like and care about others' work. Not every shot needs to be intended for art galleries.

I suspect you did not really watch the video in its entirety. In the end, Forbes comes to the same conclusion as you did.

Vaughn · Jun 30, 2016

RalphLambrecht said:
art should disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed

That is easily included in the definition of meaningful work. And meaningful work can apply to both the personal and social. He was talking about using photography in the context of making art. If one does not see him/herself as producing art, then 'meaning' has no meaning.

MrBrowning · Jun 30, 2016

RalphLambrecht said:
art should disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed

+1
I like that statement a lot.

Bob Carnie · Jun 30, 2016

I get great pleasure from my personal work, I never consider if its meaningful to others I am more concerned that I get great pleasure from producing each stage of the process , though we are all pushed to make artist statements about our work and try to prove its relevance , But for me after years of creating images
I just try to make visually beautiful prints , of subjects that have been photographed millions of times before and most likely millions of times again.

People still photograph , Rocks, Trees, Water and produce their own interpretations which could be unique and treasured by others.

ParkerSmithPhoto · Jun 30, 2016

He's just voiced something I have been struggling with for a while. In this era where billions of photos are made every day, what does one do to stand out? The business side has been brutal for years, and many photographers whom you may admire because you see their work in magazines or on Instagram simply aren't making any money. I know one Yale graduate who is in a top notch photography gallery yet this person still has to teach.

His conclusion is somewhat reassuring but I think the reality for most photographers is that it's a labor of love, they do something else to make money.

railwayman3 · Jun 30, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
The guy is just wrong. Some people do like and care about others' work. Not every shot needs to be intended for art galleries.

Agreed.....I can remember the days of "slide shows" with my parents and their friends. A fun evening with friends and family , a drink and a few eatables, looking at someone's latest set of holiday pictures and enjoying sharing the events and adventures which they'd had. Perhaps also seeing something of places which you might never expect to visit yourself.
OK, most of the pictures wouldn't have won any prizes, but the whole evening was a lot more real fun than tedious analysis of some pretentious and over-priced prints in a snooty art gallery.

Nobody cares about your photography

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