Photography Moving Forward

Brian C. Miller said:

Maybe it is not the photographers, but it is the public who is directing photography. Why do William Wegner's dogs or Anne Gerdes' babies sell? People just like them. Why do Adams' expansive and majestic landscapes stand the test of time? People just like them. And on and on. And so the market drives the direction of art, because that's where the money is.

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I think it's the public AND the photographer. As I said, we like what we photograph and they obviously like what they buy.

Wegman didn't photograph his dogs because the public demanded it, he did it because he wanted to. The public liked them and bought them. Same with those insipid babies.

Adams didn't photograph Yosemite because the public wanted it, it was his passion.

That doesn't seem to me to be market driven.

Like so many of the "arts" marketing has a huge impact on whether a photographer is "successful" and consistently sells his images or not. Like so many things it's often not so much who the best but who sells and markets themselves the best.

rich815 said:

Like so many of the "arts" marketing has a huge impact on whether a photographer is "successful" and consistently sells his images or not. Like so many things it's often not so much who the best but who sells and markets themselves the best.

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That's true but we're not really talking about the best, or marketing, we're talking about someone doing something completely new and different as the OP article wrings his hands about. Some groundbreaking new direction in photography.

Are you suggesting it's out there but nobody has discovered this person yet?