What makes you so special?

[Tony Egan]

One of my favourites is the answer Robert Adams gives to the question why people photograph: "to keep in tact an affection for life". For me it's as much about the search for meaning, insights, beauty etc. that goes along with being a curious human being. Others paint, write, sing, play, meditate etc. Special would be when someone else generates their own affection about life when they look at one of my pictures. It's not just up to me to say!

 

[Q.G.]

Would you need to have film in your cameras to achieve your goal?

 

[moouers]

It would be interesting, fun too, if pictures posted in the Galleries would be accompanied, not by the uninteresting technical details (who really cares about what f-stop was used???), but by a motivation, an explanation of why the particular picture was made to begin with, why it was made to look the way it does, and why any viewer might/should care about it and not just ignore it.

Great idea and I hope it is implemented.

I don't care to think of myself and my photography as being special or unique - it's not what I strive for, it's not the reason I do what I do. All I can do is shoot with passion and hope it comes across to another viewer. If not, then at least make it so it comes through for me. Not too many people have seen my photography though, so I guess I just rely on whether or not the process is therapeutic/enjoyable for me. So far, so good.

 

[coigach]

Absolutely nothing. But I enjoy it and for the most part it makes me happy (except for those few times when I review my negs and wonder why I ever bothered to pick up a camera in the first place).

Me too...!

(except mine are all B+W positives, but the sentiment is the same)

Cheers,
Gavin

 

[mick8585]

Try to explain the urge to breathe and the urge to eat. Urges are what drives us. Photography remains as natural as getting out of bed to me. I just do it.

 

[dehk]

My work is not special, unless you're talking about special ed. haha.

The only beauty in my work is, I do what i want and I'm not trying to impress nobody. No matter what anyone thinks about my work, I'm still going to do it the way I want. I'm not taking a photo for you.

 

[Q.G.]

Try to explain the urge to breathe and the urge to eat. Urges are what drives us.

That's extremely easy: 'hard-wired' survival.

But it's not that easy when it comes to why photography, and why that picture, done that way.

Photography remains as natural as getting out of bed to me. I just do it.

At what time? Why that time? Do you sometimes like to lie-in? Why so? Etc.

 

[patois]

To be honest, I don't have an answer.

 

[mike c]

Why

That's what i ask myself every time i even think about picking up a camera.
It's what i ask about all those millions of pictures created every day. Why would they need to be? Why would i have to look at them?
The answer all too often is that there is no reason. Just more of the tired old same.

In fact, it has become a bit of a long running project of mine to try to figure out why people feel the urge to add yet more to the already too many.
It's not just photography, but applies equally to every 'creative' field.

And the answer is not in the 'products' of creativity. It's the urge. The photographs (and music, books, etc.) have to be made, because people feel an urge to do so. After that, they would better be burned, stored away where they will never be seen, etc. The last thing to do is bother other people with them.

It would be interesting, fun too, if pictures posted in the Galleries would be accompanied, not by the uninteresting technical details (who really cares about what f-stop was used???), but by a motivation, an explanation of why the particular picture was made to begin with, why it was made to look the way it does, and why any viewer might/should care about it and not just ignore it.

Bingo!thats what I'v been working on the last 40yrs,getting closer to this type of thinking from the last workshop that I had with Per Volqartz,hopefully I'll find an answer and a cure!!

Mike

 

[M.A.Longmore]

.
I enjoy the process of using a camera, deciding which film to use.
Selecting the lens, and a filter if necessary. Choosing which lightmeter to use.
Contemplating the photograph, and ideal exposure. The aggravation of loading
reels in a changing bag. The thrill of using chemicals that I am allergic to.
The excitement of seeing the results. The Disappointment. Rinsing. Repeating.

Never had so much fun with digital photography. None Whatsoever.
Only The Disappointment ...

Analog Photography Is Einmaligkeit.

That's Special !


Ron
.

 

[MaximusM3]

I think it is up to the person admiring an image or buying it, to determine what is special about it, or the artist. I am fairly critical of my work but I've sold prints of photographs that I thought were just ok but people enjoyed them more than I did. In my opinion, if I start analyzing what makes ME special, I will probably just be concerning myself with something I have no control over, and in turn impairing creativity. Just my 2c.

Q.G. has a very interesting and correct point in his last paragraph. I frankly am getting more tired of people asking what camera I use or film, ISO, developers, etc, and that's why I chose not to put a single caption about it on pictures in my new website, although many have asked. As far as explaining why a picture was made the way it was, and why should someone care and not ignore it...well, I frankly don't think it would make a difference. Samuel Goldwin once said.."if you have a message, send a telegram". It is up to the viewer, in my opinion, to discover what is interesting about an image, or finding a meaning (if there is any at all), or interpret, appreciate a certain look, as this is all very subjective. I look at Bresson or Gibson's work all the time and I don't need them to explain anything. If I am enjoying what I am looking at, and find what I (myself) is interesting in an image, it is good enough for me.
One line from one of Bresson's rare interviews is always stuck in my head...Question: "why do you take pictures?" Answer: "because it's faster than drawing". None of these guys ever seemed concern with having a "message" or being overly critical of their own work, or finding meanings that didn't exist in their images. It is us, the viewers, who put them on a pedestal and created the legends.

As far as "the urge" Q.G. is talking about...well, it is true but on the other hand, nobody is bothering anyone. If you don't like the music, don't buy it. If you don't like an image, pass. It's not like anyone is imposing on others to look, buy, or critique worthless images.

best,

Max

 

[Q.G.]

As far as "the urge" Q.G. is talking about...well, it is true but on the other hand, nobody is bothering anyone. If you don't like the music, don't buy it. If you don't like an image, pass. It's not like anyone is imposing on others to look, buy, or critique worthless images.

That's not quite true, is it?
Trying to avoid 'the constant stream' is a full time job. Why, just come to Apug and you're greeted by a 'picture of the day'.

It's just like a bad sense of humor: you can't read any of the threads here without coming across the 'usual suspects' spouting their nonsense, doing their best to turn anything into a display of their urges.

Impossible to avoid...

 

[moouers]

It's just like a bad sense of humor: you can't read any of the threads here without coming across the 'usual suspects' spouting their nonsense, doing their best to turn anything into a display of their urges.

Though some people do like to toot their own horns here, it's really not that bad. I almost never see people attaching their photos to random threads. It's a lot worse on photo.net, however. Or perhaps you meant something else when you said "a display of their urges"?

 

[Q.G.]

Well, yes and no.
In this case, the urge that is extremely difficult to avoid running into isn't a photographic one. (Just like my point about urges wasn't restricted to photographic ones).
You're absolutely right about the willy-nilly posting of photos. Very 'restrained' behaviour here, much worse in other places.

It generally is very hard to avoid the incessant stream of 'creations' without becoming a recluse, locking yourself up in a cell without any contact with the world outside. And i don't believe we would or should want to.
Yet, keeping ourselves 'open' to whatever our fellow human beings do and produce, i (at least) can't help noticing that the vast majority of 'creative products' aren't worth the time it takes to even acknowledge they exist (and that includes my own). They may be important, as a 'release of creative tension', the giving in to an urge, an itch you have to scratch. But that doesn't necessarily make them worth anything to anyone else. And only very few are.
But still, Max, they are almost all 'thrust upon us'.

 

[clayne]

I find some of the most vocal people here have the least photographically to show for it.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

 

[coigach]

I find some of the most vocal people here have the least photographically to show for it.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Amen.

 

[Q.G.]

I find some of the most vocal people here have the least photographically to show for it.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

They will have the least problem answering the OP's question.

Speaking of which, why, would you say, should anyone look at your images?

 

[MaximusM3]

Well, yes and no.
In this case, the urge that is extremely difficult to avoid running into isn't a photographic one. (Just like my point about urges wasn't restricted to photographic ones).
You're absolutely right about the willy-nilly posting of photos. Very 'restrained' behaviour here, much worse in other places.

It generally is very hard to avoid the incessant stream of 'creations' without becoming a recluse, locking yourself up in a cell without any contact with the world outside. And i don't believe we would or should want to.
Yet, keeping ourselves 'open' to whatever our fellow human beings do and produce, i (at least) can't help noticing that the vast majority of 'creative products' aren't worth the time it takes to even acknowledge they exist (and that includes my own). They may be important, as a 'release of creative tension', the giving in to an urge, an itch you have to scratch. But that doesn't necessarily make them worth anything to anyone else. And only very few are.
But still, Max, they are almost all 'thrust upon us'.

Q.G. , yes, I do agree with your feelings but that's the beauty of the internet. Lots is "thrust upon us" and the only way to avoid it is to either disconnect or limit the places/people one is in contact with. You know..ignore buttons, visiting APUG once a week instead of 50 times per day, etc. Lots of garbage out there and there is no doubt about that but, if I don't feel like looking at it/reading about it, I just don't click on galleries, links, flickr, etc. Hey, I'm sick of bad news..I go on CNN once every 2-3 days..when I'm on vacation..I leave my iPhone home. There are steps we can take to limit the barrage of crap of all sorts that we are thrown at every day. And, yes, we can also limit the amount of garbage we all put out there...then again, someone's garbage may be someone else's gold

Best,

Max

 

[M.A.Longmore]

.
If you are a member of a photography website.
Should should expect to see a few photographs.
They might not all be to our liking, but I don't see
a need to criticize anyone photographs. Unless
someone specifically requested a critique.
And I am sure that there are members better
qualified to that task, than myself.


Ron
.

 

[Grif]

Special? Me? ...nothing :-(

I just like to take pictures and play with the technology. I'm really supprised this thread has gone on this long without getting "fussy". I guess it's one of the reasons this is the only site I actually pay for.

I hope everybody else gets at least as much enjoyment from the hobby as I do.

 

[2F/2F]

I got to ride on the short bus...

...and as a result, I can do this: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZhNb1wsTUXc/S03aOI0wi3I/AAAAAAAAAPc/GhIDGkw85No/s400/spock.jpg.

(I had to wedge the window sill of the short bus between my fingers to train myself how to do it. I did one hand on the way to school and the other on the way home. )

 

[ccross]

"Whats so special about what your doing in photography?" - For anyone else looking at my photographs...absolutely nothing.

For me, my photography is special because it is hard evidence that at least some of those visions in my head are real, and secondly, it is the best explanation I can give my wife for the need to lean just a little bit farther over the edge.

Thanks,
Craig

 

[paulie]

my own peculiar way of making carbon prints,my unique way i use albumen on my vandykes,my home made 10x8 cameras, my very abused 1925 voightlander 180mm lens ,my homemade pinhole cameras, just to mention a few.

everything i point my camera at is not unique to me, i express myself in the darkroom, or not so dark room these days

 

[mabman]

I'm special because I have a large....lens

 

[Rudeofus]

The thing which makes my photos extremely special is that most of them are pictures of my kids. And since my kids are the best kids in the world (every parent thinks that, but I know it ), these pictures will remain special to me and my immediate family.

PS: I wholeheartedly agree with Ron about criticism of other folk's pics. It may sound very intellectual to complain about the "huge steaming garbage pile of pictures" being imposed on us every day. It may be pleasant for some here to step on a soap box once in a while and scream "YOU'RE ALL PATHETIC DIMWITS" into the general audience, but I'm not sure why APUG should be a platform for this. Most of these pics, especially here on APUG, are the result of careful consideration and elaborate work, and while some or most of these pics may or may not touch a nerve inside you or me, they are still far beyond ordinary random snap shots. Summarily dismissing them as garbage shows ignorance, not aesthetic wisdom.