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Which school of photographic thought you're in

Mainecoonmaniac

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There's a saying "Grapes struggle for good wine." So do you think one has to struggle for a good photograph or do you believe in flow? Like when you're in the "Zone" and everything comes easily. Does flow only come with struggle? Are the two mutually exclusive? Tell me your thoughts in getting a good photograph.
 
If I am not struggling, then I am not pushing myself enough. I do plan for the expected but look for the unknown.
 
Struggle is kind of the opposite of flow.
But i also find myself, pushing further, but not in a thought process, not in intellectual reflection.
More like..
Intensifying the current of the flow, that might be a way to describe it, while staying absorbed, in a quiet, observing state.
The mind knows where and how to reveal the deeper image. Following with eyes and hands and sometimes very physical expense leads there.. sometimes.
following the flow is not always gentle.
 
I am just a gifted genius so none of this matters to me.
(I am also humble and modest.)
 
As with any art, be it photography, painting, music, writing, etc., a craft must be mastered. Without mastery of craft, any art becomes a hit or miss (mostly miss) struggle. Even with craft under one’s belt, creativity is not assured. Even the degree to which a craft is mastered depends upon intelligence, level of persistence, time and thought devoted to practice and mental concentration.
The difficulty with photography is that hat need for craft is not obvious. Making music on violin or banjo, for example, requires achievement in a craft. The need for craft in photography is hidden by “you only need to click the shutter, we do the rest.”
Doing photography without learning the craft will always remain a haphazard struggle. Not every picture taken by a master is a success. Photography, just as with any art, can be very humbling. There are no short cuts!
David Vestal’s book title said it all, The Craft of Photography. Also Feininger’s Total Picture Control.
 
foc said:
I am just a gifted genius so none of this matters to me.
(I am also humble and modest.)
Click to expand...
I love the line from a Randy Newman song..."I am quite modest once you get to know me."
 
Good photographs like good art requires effort. They do not happen in a vacuum.
 
I think just as important, do you place objects in front of the lens sculpturally ? Or do you take your camera to the place or object? Different discoveries for each method.
 
Or can one find reflected light and use it to create an image, balancing the forms created by the light into a composition that sings about the place reflecting the light? Another method, different discoveries.

5x7 platinum/palladium print
 

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I can’t say it any better than this guy did:


“It’s seldom you make a great picture. You have to milk the cow quite a lot to get plenty of milk to make a little cheese.”
— Henri Cartier-Bresson
 
sometimes there is a struggle to figure out what I am doing but once I find the path I bushwhack ... and am on autopilot. if I think too much and I am too conscious of what I am doing nothing really works out but I do sometimes learn from my mistakes.

Auer said:
Struggle is mostly eliminated by planning. Flow is a byproduct of that.
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IDK about that, maybe some this works. I am currently working on a project where planning has very little to do with the work being produced. I can plan to fail 90% of the time, but that is about it. Maybe planning to go to a specific place at a specific time of day when XYZ is supposed to happen, or planning a still life or portrait &c sure, I can see that, but not all photography can be meticulously planned.

Auer said:
HCB never had to work a day in his life.
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was he supposed to have a 9-5 job, toil in a factory? seems like starting magnum was work, living (and surviving) 2 world wars was work... changing the way photography was practiced at the time was work. maybe his work was not the same as one would do today, you know attend zoom-meetings with a stressed out middle manager who realize they will be outsourced ( or done without ), all while being gleefully distracted by candy crush, and then after the meeting doing whatever it is that people do these days for meaningful employment.
 
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Auer said:
HCB never had to work a day in his life.
Click to expand...
But he knew how to milk a cow...

To get things to flow and to keep them flowing can be a struggle at times, too.
 
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Step A) I try not to shoot photographs until I feel urge / pressure for it.

Step B) Go photographing. Then it's mostly about luck.

Step C) Return to A.

Seems like it has similarity to method by HCB. Milking. Finnish photographer Taneli Eskola describes it with word "jyystää" which translates to scrubbing. Dunno if that is correct word, for example if you remove wood by scraping it with blunt tool, that is "jyystää" in Finnish, I guess.
 
Well, you should put them back when you're done looking at them...
 
Auer said:
Struggle is mostly eliminated by planning. Flow is a byproduct of that.
Click to expand...
I mostly agree with Auer here. For me, planning is mostly about patience - waiting for the right conditions and light. If those two elements aren't there, the photos are lifeless.

My photos are only for myself, so I can't imagine much more struggle to it besides the need for patience.
 
Auer has a good point. Planning is needed for flow for when one wishes to achieve a goal. Struggle can arise when one realizes that planning for the known will only take one to the known...and one has to push and struggle to break through the known to get to the unknown...the goal one did not realize existed and could not be planned for.
 
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