The odd comments I've experienced have generally been from people who think they have a monopoly on what counts as good photography. On one occasion I even received a private message here, from someone who thought my images were too low in contrast...
Odd comments?
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LOL. I got personal messages here telling me I was "wasting precious film and paper" and "to give up"
anonymous people on the internet are the bestest aren't they ?
I once shared a snapshot of an evenings worth of prints drying on the line. One person asked, "Why did you make so many copies of the same image?".
I think that is totally valid question
I think that is totally valid question
Valid for sure, I just found it odd. For other runs I could've joked that the prints are offerings to the gods of toning and ferrotyping!
On my last postcard exchange I printed 35 cards in caffenol. "Last night I made 35 photos of same subject using coffee" - I'm pretty sure that would silence any lunch table
On my last postcard exchange I printed 35 cards in caffenol. "Last night I made 35 photos of same subject using coffee" - I'm pretty sure that would silence any lunch table
Speaking of, the batch of prints were for an exchange. But I digress.
I honestly know that my hobby is so strange in normal people eyes that I don't even try to explain what I'm doing and if someone makes odd comments I completely understand them. But sometimes ..
(I was photographing on street with my DIY 5x7")
Stranger: "Hi, beautiful old camera!"
Me: "Actually this is quite new, under one year old."
Strange: "Uhmm.. Where do you can buy such cameras?"
Me: "Actually I have designed and built this myself"
In this point the stranger is already starting to get confused.
Me: "It shoots this kind of film" (showing 5x7" sheet film)
Stranger: ... (totally puzzled) .. "Do they still sell film?"
Me: "Yes, actually manufacturers are bringing out new products"
In this point the stranger is played out. They usually start walking away and wishing pleasant photographing
If that is not enough, I let them look at under dark cloth. When they come out I usually ask "Do you now understand why you need the dark cloth?" and they are enlightened agreeing in awe.
(I was photographing on street with my DIY 5x7")
Stranger: "Hi, beautiful old camera!"
Me: "Actually this is quite new, under one year old."
Strange: "Uhmm.. Where do you can buy such cameras?"
Me: "Actually I have designed and built this myself"
In this point the stranger is already starting to get confused.
Me: "It shoots this kind of film" (showing 5x7" sheet film)
Stranger: ... (totally puzzled) .. "Do they still sell film?"
Me: "Yes, actually manufacturers are bringing out new products"
In this point the stranger is played out. They usually start walking away and wishing pleasant photographing
If that is not enough, I let them look at under dark cloth. When they come out I usually ask "Do you now understand why you need the dark cloth?" and they are enlightened agreeing in awe.
The one and only time I was a member of a camera club I showed some slides of my first trip to Ireland. One shot was made in Connemara looking West into a sunset. The club president asked what filter I'd used, and no amount of insistence would convince him that I hadn't.
I often wonder how these people would behave in the real world. Some of these anonymous commenters don't put up any images either which I tend to find odd.
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I always figure they are all 13 year old girls, or someone’s Jack Russell Terrier... lots of people fake identities or have some sort of thing where they have an online persona .. as Jim Morrison sang. .. people are strange..
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Reminds me of shooting in a small town in northern Iowa last December. I was wandering down main street shooting interesting scenes and buildings and this lady came out and said:
"Can I help you?"
and I paused, then replied
"I don't know. What are your powers?"
She went back inside.
When I was a 1st year student at the Royal Academy for Fine Arts, where I was supposed te learn photography and get a diploma (sic), I submitted a reportage about labour union men rallying among the dock workers at the seaport (social unrests in 1978). All was shot at the docks very early in the (cold-)winter morning when it was still dark, with my Rolleiflex and pushed Tri-X.
When the Professor in the Photographic Arts (yes they were called like that) came along to judge, he asked why I burned the sky's that dark. And, as I printed the entire negative with the black borders just to show I didn't reframe while printing, he asked why I didn't used the appropriate 6x6 film mask in the enlarger.
The next year I changed high school and went for a more professional training (technical under graduate) which gave me a solid and trustworthy basis for my career as a self employed photographer (35 years)...
When the Professor in the Photographic Arts (yes they were called like that) came along to judge, he asked why I burned the sky's that dark. And, as I printed the entire negative with the black borders just to show I didn't reframe while printing, he asked why I didn't used the appropriate 6x6 film mask in the enlarger.
The next year I changed high school and went for a more professional training (technical under graduate) which gave me a solid and trustworthy basis for my career as a self employed photographer (35 years)...
That's a great answer! Love it (especially in IA - I lived in Page County for a bit).
I once went to a film camera club's meeting. I was a student then and very low on money. We talked about darkroom work and I told that unfortunately I haven't been able to do any printing for some time as I don't have the money to pay for the access to darkroom. One of the members told that "if you're not willing to pay 60€ for the membership then maybe you should quit photography altogether".
It was the first and the last time I went there. Not just because of that comment, but because the atmosphere wasn't very nice or inviting. I don't see any point in gathering once a week to laugh at how stupid things some beginner wrote on the internet.
It was the first and the last time I went there. Not just because of that comment, but because the atmosphere wasn't very nice or inviting. I don't see any point in gathering once a week to laugh at how stupid things some beginner wrote on the internet.
The issue is with the oldest members usually. I think their ego is built around being part of the club - nothing to do with photography anymore. What typically happens in any club is that after a time it becomes pretty closed and strict community with certain "rules" and hierarchy. I really hate that. Thankfully I can choose in what parts of the activities I shall participate. For example Tampere Valokuvausseura (local club) has done great work on promoting analog photography (and alt. processes too!) which makes me pay their membership next year too.
MurrayMinchin
Membership Council
"If I buy the print, I get the negative, right?" Had a fairly long discussion over that one, and didn't sway his position.
"Three red dots?" I was allowed to exhibit some B&W prints in a local art club show and the question came from the resident dreamy landscape watercolorist hero who had single red dots (indicating a sale) on the title labels of his paintings, while one of my prints had three red dots. I smiled and said, "It's the nature of the medium".
After high school I went to a fine arts college as my first real step to being a photographer. My entrance portfolio was 4x5 contact prints with no drawings or paintings at all. They were made when I had access to a real darkroom for the first time (besides my parents laundry room where I had been developing negatives) and were made with about two months of printing experience. The teachers said I got into their colleges fine arts programme on the strength of my compositions, but that my printing needed work. I took the same portfolio to the head of the same schools photography programme and he said, "Your printing is good but your compositions are weak" I knew I had chosen the right path!
I once took my prints to someone who had seen some international acclaim as a news photographer and who just so happened to be in our small town. While flipping through my nature photographs he chuckled softly and said quietly to himself, "I remember taking photos like this"
I'm pretty confident in myself, thick skinned, and don't let others viewpoints dent my self worth, but that comment stung. A lot. It was only after ruminating over it for a few days that I realized it stung because there was a kernel of truth in it. They were pretty, controlled compositions in an easy-on-the-eyes style. There was no "me" in them, didn't necessarily accentuate what made me stop to photograph the scene in the first place, and were safe, tightly controlled compositions. I immediately launched into a balanced imbalance series of images and it changed the trajectory of my photography for the better.
"Three red dots?" I was allowed to exhibit some B&W prints in a local art club show and the question came from the resident dreamy landscape watercolorist hero who had single red dots (indicating a sale) on the title labels of his paintings, while one of my prints had three red dots. I smiled and said, "It's the nature of the medium".
After high school I went to a fine arts college as my first real step to being a photographer. My entrance portfolio was 4x5 contact prints with no drawings or paintings at all. They were made when I had access to a real darkroom for the first time (besides my parents laundry room where I had been developing negatives) and were made with about two months of printing experience. The teachers said I got into their colleges fine arts programme on the strength of my compositions, but that my printing needed work. I took the same portfolio to the head of the same schools photography programme and he said, "Your printing is good but your compositions are weak" I knew I had chosen the right path!
I once took my prints to someone who had seen some international acclaim as a news photographer and who just so happened to be in our small town. While flipping through my nature photographs he chuckled softly and said quietly to himself, "I remember taking photos like this"
I'm pretty confident in myself, thick skinned, and don't let others viewpoints dent my self worth, but that comment stung. A lot. It was only after ruminating over it for a few days that I realized it stung because there was a kernel of truth in it. They were pretty, controlled compositions in an easy-on-the-eyes style. There was no "me" in them, didn't necessarily accentuate what made me stop to photograph the scene in the first place, and were safe, tightly controlled compositions. I immediately launched into a balanced imbalance series of images and it changed the trajectory of my photography for the better.
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- jtk
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I’ve heard the “look old on purpose” thing in regards to my black and white prints, though I think it’s probably just lack of familiarity with the medium than any desire to put it down.
I’m fairly certain my wife takes no interest whatsoever in my hobby, other than positive reassurance my time isn’t spent elsewhere with mistresses and other unsavory characters. We’ll call that one a draw.
I was recently told one of my prints was slightly better than lomography… On the one hand, ummm, thanks? But on the other, so what if it was ”lomography”, whatever that really is? Presumably the commenter was a more experienced, more refined guardian of True Photography.
In my real job I have occasionally worked with people who, in another time, may well have been pirates or highwaymen. You quickly learn to ignore personal insults, or better yet, turn them into compliments.
Having grown accustomed to that, I would truly rather hear an informed insult than a weak compliment: “Great capture!” “Beautiful bokeh!” Totally meaningless. How about “I’ve got a lot of problems with this picture, and now you’re gonna hear about them!”
I’m fairly certain my wife takes no interest whatsoever in my hobby, other than positive reassurance my time isn’t spent elsewhere with mistresses and other unsavory characters. We’ll call that one a draw.
I was recently told one of my prints was slightly better than lomography… On the one hand, ummm, thanks? But on the other, so what if it was ”lomography”, whatever that really is? Presumably the commenter was a more experienced, more refined guardian of True Photography.
In my real job I have occasionally worked with people who, in another time, may well have been pirates or highwaymen. You quickly learn to ignore personal insults, or better yet, turn them into compliments.
Having grown accustomed to that, I would truly rather hear an informed insult than a weak compliment: “Great capture!” “Beautiful bokeh!” Totally meaningless. How about “I’ve got a lot of problems with this picture, and now you’re gonna hear about them!”
"les imbécilités autour de nous, nous laissent point d'espoir" quote by the French/Swiss actor Michel Simon.
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One of my all time favorite actors.
It's very hard to come up with something really new.
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