Why rather than How we make photographs

I don't really know... but it seems like a natural extension of who I am, and enhances this wonderful experience called life!

I started out taking photos because I wanted to document parties, concerts and other stuff related to family and friends. But soon after I felt that taking photos was a way of expression that I found suiting for me. I am also musician and photography is great thing to combine with music.

Music appeals to your ears and I make it with my band.
Photography appeals to your eyes and I make it alone.

This way I express myself both by audio and visually. And I make the art both alone and in a group. Great combination.

Jim Chinn's answer was the one that resonated with me...as you might
guess from the quote in my signature file....

Why? Because what we see today may not exist tomorrow. Life is fleeting and I wish to preserve something of what I know and love, the things that make me feel free, that make my heart sing. I want to preserve the beauty of nature before the last of it is compromised.

c6h6o3 said:

The act of photography is complete for me only when a good print is mounted, overmatted, framed and on the wall.

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While emotion certainly comes into play in everything we do (being human) I have to agree with the above. I don't really think the emotions of the phtographer at the moment the shutter is snapped has anything at all to do with why photographic art can have an emotional impact. I know this probably goes against everything Minor White ever taught, but, for me, the arrangement of the elements in the frame is due to the awareness/expertise of the architecture (and perhaps history) of image creation on the part of the photographer. The arrangement might invoke a particular emotion in the photographer at the time the shutter is opened, but how in the world is that particular emotion ever going to be communicated through the print to the viewer? I don't believe that emotion can be communicated in that fashion. What is communicated is content (which is the print itself). The viewer sees the image and has an emotional reaction based on their response to the arrangement of the elements.

David Byrne in "Strange Ritual" has a section where he talks about the emotions he has while singing. While singing he experiences a strong emotion and begins to scream. At the same time he notices that the audience is staring at him and while they can recognize that he is experiencing an emotion, the audience has no idea what that emotion is. They cannot experience his emotion directly even though he is doing all that he can to transmit the emotion. And this observation is made about music which has long been considered (since Plato anyway) to be the one art that can truly express emotion directly.

I think that the opposite is really the case. The photographers who can remove themselves (and their ego) from the process of exposing the negative are the ones who are most successful at creating images which can invoke emotion on the part of the viewer. From the writings of the photographers whose work I most admire I have come to believe that this is how they worked: Cartier-Bresson talks about "Zen and the Art of Archery"; Weston's writings about Tina Modotti's and others reactions to his shell prints; everything Sommer said, etc. Jazz musicians often talk about improvisation the same way. You practice and practice the movements and processes so that when the time comes you can completely forget everything, yet still create.

Thanks,

Will

Very good question Les which I am not sure if I really want to answer, but...

Why I take a photo is honestly for a very selfish reason and gets personal. There are two major reasons I'll touch on.

My childhood was without much support or emotion and my own first born child died within a couple of days after birth. So I have big voids in my life that my photography of children fills for me. I am always on the lookout to capture the emotions of childhood from any race or society. Every child has feelings and problems that adults often don't have time for or simply just don't see. When I take a photo I hope to help the child 'speak out' their emotions whether it be sorrow, anger, pure fun, laughter...

Lets all live a little. Lets see and understand what others feel.

And I'm happy to say that I have two beautiful, healthy children.

Will S said:

I think that the opposite is really the case. The photographers who can remove themselves (and their ego) from the process of exposing the negative are the ones who are most successful at creating images which can invoke emotion on the part of the viewer. From the writings of the photographers whose work I most admire I have come to believe that this is how they worked: Cartier-Bresson talks about "Zen and the Art of Archery"; Weston's writings about Tina Modotti's and others reactions to his shell prints; everything Sommer said, etc. Jazz musicians often talk about improvisation the same way. You practice and practice the movements and processes so that when the time comes you can completely forget everything, yet still create.

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You said it better than I did. Tell me, where did HCB talk about Herrigel's book? I'd like to read whatever passage contains the reference. The principles espoused in Zen in the Art of Archery comprise a cornerstone of my personal life's philosophy.

Les, which of the "Art & Fear" books are we talking about here? The one by David Boyles or Paul Virilio?

Thanks,

David Boyles and Ted Orland Mike I got my copy at Barnes and Noble over off I 30 in Arlington in the art section

lee\c

I think I have some (minor) understanding of Zen, and the control of the strength - or rather, direction - of the "will" ... (works well in archery), but that to me is part of the process... the "how".

The "Why" is something different, and necessarily precedes the "how".

Let me think... Usually... always? - I am awestruck by the emotional content of a "scene" to the point where letting go of the happening is difficult, if not painful. Call it freezing a moment of ecstasy and preserving it ...

An avenue for investigation - "Why" am I awestruck..? ... Or, "Why" the ecstasy happens..?

Eliminate my "involvement" with what is going on? That doesn't work for me ... although I really don't know. I can't honesty say I've ever been successful at that kind of a separation.

That sort of supports "capture" as opposed to "creation" ... but I can easily be capturing something I have created...

Photography is for me,simply a way of showing the beauty of the world I see around me-in my own way(hopefully showing through)in a world that has increasing become a place where beauty is constantly being overshadowed by other things.In effect it's a visual counterweight to all the other images I see each day that reminds me that beauty still exists and like nature,will always find a way.

Jim

this thread is a few pages long.... 4 so far. I havent read any posts aside from Les' original post. I wanted to reply before reading any others replies and then catch up after that.

Ive spent countless hours writting in my journal contemplating the "why" of my inclination to create art... Paintings, or more so in recent years photographs in particular. In fact, Ive even spent numerous hours talking with my therapist about the why of my photography. The self doubt in it. The Confidence in it. The questioning. The why seems so integral in the process of walking the path of photography that if I wasnt asking why I feel I would not deserve to be capturing images, nor would I be showing the respect to the medium that it deserves.

one of the strongest, and what seems like a founding element, is the "rightness" of photography for me personally. It feels like something I should be doing. I see images and am moved by them emotionally. Emotion seems integral in any image I hope to capture. Whether that image conveys that emotion or emotion at all is perhaps a criteria for success.... but then again perhaps not. Ill refrain from travelling off course.

Quite recently Ive been spending, almost daily, a few hours at a very small and quaint nature preserve and garden here in Austin. One Ive gone to many times in the past few years.... prior it was to visit there during the wonderfully gorgeous and color flower blooming time. I have slide upon slide of these gorgeous flowers and foliage.
But recently its become a place of symbolizing appreciation and admiration. revolving around the seemingly endless combination of light, shadow, line, form, plant, structure, balance. all with seemingly endless combinations and scenes of beauty. Each and every time I visit something seems different, similiar images seen with entirely new eyes.
Ive spent many a early evening sitting on a bench contemplating why I continue to return to this small stone wall surrounded place with so much more that resides outside of these walls, in the world at large. yet I continue to be moved my its elegance, simplicity, quiet beauty and the solemn emotions it surfaces in me. Sadness at times.... melancholly solitude. Yet almost simultaneously a subtle joy that seems warming too the heart (even when drenched in texas humidity). Cooling water rushing between my toes as I sit on the edge of a pond. The peacocks sqwauking at each other.
It seems these feelings and emotions could potentially be conveyed in images created through photography... perhaps even my photographs. I feel a responsibility in recognizing and embracing these emotions that I should then convey them to others. to share them.
These emotions, inspirations, and thoughts are not isolated to my work in just this particular place... it feels a fundamental part of why I photograph anything at all, emotional response. I used to photograph a girl I was dating because of my strong reaction to her beauty and the emotions connected with it. I photograph old buildings and decay because of this emotional response.
these are the beauties I see. I still see a sunset and find it beautiful. But not in the same way I see the world through photographic eyes (seem to only ones I look through recently) the beauty these eyes see lies elsewhere.

there is a true passion that I feel responsible to share and manifest in photographs.

In answer to the original question I think I've got at least three answers:
1) I'm fixated on time and stopping it and capturing it and where possible making it look nice, interesting, or funny.
2) I definitely see things in black and white
3) Immortality: I've got to confess I like the idea of a total stranger now or 100 years from now looking at something I took and seeing something that I saw. I refuse to say anything about "seeing the world through my eyes" or anything like that because I'm still at a level where I don't know what's going to come out when I take a picture.
4) I LOVE printing.

And all in all it's the one form of creative expression that I'm happy with and I don't mind sharing it with others.

lee said:

David Boyles and Ted Orland Mike I got my copy at Barnes and Noble over off I 30 in Arlington in the art section

lee\c

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Thanks Lee

Unfortunately I have no artistic bent. I am also lousy at expressing myself, but here goes anyway. I just love the idea of being able to capture an instant in time and then making it big enough to see what you would never have noticed in every day life.

I have to (in part) link the technical with the aesthetic.
It is a challenge to me to interpret a scene or subject, make a decision on composition, exposure, and development. (i.e. How should this look?)

What drew me to this particular scene or subject?
- Maybe it was because I thought it would make an interesting print..
- Maybe it was a rare opportune moment that will never present itself to me ever again...
- Maybe I thought it was a "seller"...
- Maybe it has an appeal to me that is not quite fully understood but none- the-less always present within...("drawn to this inexplicably" kinda thing)
- Maybe I just want to make a picture or make the act of capturing...

It is something, for whatever reasons, that has become imbedded in my conscious and subconscious. It's just there. Where did it come from?
Perhaps an evolution from my beginnings through my life's journey, from exploring various avenues of creative expression, and for now it happens to be photography. It just is.

I've never thought of "stopping time" as that is an impossibility. Documenting a moment in existence, maybe.

I honestly wasn't going to add to this thread as I have (often) realized the effort to understand certain things can bring unwanted results.
That's why I gave up try to "understand" women...

blaze-on said:

That's why I gave up trying to "understand" women...

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Thats disappointing.

Nicole Boenig-McGrade said:

Thats disappointing.

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Women ARE quite difficult to understand sometimes...but so are men! I do not always understand my, btw. beautiful, wife...but I certainly do not understand myself at all

This is a tough question, but it is a question that we all really need to struggle with.

My motivation has a couple of facets. One is that I find photographs, and especially black and white photographs, to be especially beautiful and emotionally moving, and I want to make images that trigger that kind reaction. To be totally honest, my motivation is primarily selfish - I want images that I can hang on the wall here at home that will stimulate that reaction in myself - but if others can receive similar enjoyment from my work, that's wonderful.

A second consideration is that my experience is tht the "best" images I have made have been done under circumstances that were especially enjoyable for me. Part of this enjoyment has come from the environmental circumstances (whatever I was doing at the time) and part from the process of making the photograph (I especially enjoy the process of photographing in large format). Interestingly, there have been several instances in which I have enjoyed the experience even though I haven't been able to make photographs - which means that I have seen things that I think would make wonderful photographs, and have enjoyed the process of thinking about how I would photograph them if I had the opportunity, but I haven't actualy captured any images.

Note that this does not mean scrapbook images of people or places. This example ((there was a url link here which no longer exists)) could have been made anywhere, and the casual observer doesn't need to know where it was made. But I know that it resulted from a delightful Fourth of July at Fisherman's Wharf with my family - and that adds to the "specialness" of the image for me.

I once heard someone say that his reason for photographing was to be able to show his friends the things that he had seen - with the word "seen" taking on more than the casual meaing of having observed something visually. Seeing photographically involves visual observation, reacting emotionally, anticipating a presentation (what Adams referred to as "previsualization"), and memorization. It's an active process in which we become engaged with the scene mentally and emotionally, even if we don't capture it on film (or even digitally).

I like to feel what it looks like, musically, I encouraged my students to hear with their eyes and see with their ears.

Dave in Vegas

Well.... at last... we get to what's really important. I have to say that it is refreshing to see this topic and to be able to respond to it. I have thought about it for a very long time...
Sometimes it was as a lament... "Why, oh why, am I doing this?" those times when it felt like I was constantly ramming a stone wall with my 'not-as-hard-as-you-think' head. But mostly, it was there...like a constant beacon of understanding.

For me, the 'why' was and IS the important thing. It is what drives me to learn the 'how'. I could care less about ratios of this and chemical properties of that. Those things are a means to an end. The 'why' for me is best described by a line in the old Cat Stevens song... "Morning has broken, like the first morning..." Because EVERY day is like the very first day, and I look at each and every one of them with awe in the beauty around me. Every leaf, every sky, every clover leaf... it all amazes me and holds me in raptured awe. I see beauty in the rows of corn just before it is harvested; it is there in the wilted beauty of a flower past its prime; it is there in the tattered curtains of a home empty for decades. To see these things, and to have the ability to capture these images... it is just about one of the very best things I have ever done! I am humble before this awesome privelege.

The 'how' just provides the tools to realize the 'why'.

c6h6o3 said:

You said it better than I did. Tell me, where did HCB talk about Herrigel's book? I'd like to read whatever passage contains the reference. The principles espoused in Zen in the Art of Archery comprise a cornerstone of my personal life's philosophy.

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I think I read that in either "Photography Past Forward: Aperture At 50" or "Documentary and Anti-graphic Photographs" I can't remember which. I have the "Man, Image, World" too, but I don't think it is in there.

Sorry I can't be more precise.

Will

Why?

.................................... because!.......

Mostly to stop time -- to grab onto moments that are too fleeting -- but I don't think I'm stopping it really, just saving away a few glances before the ashes of those moments too are gone.

Like almost all art, a struggle against anonymity and maninglessness, to grab some part of the form I see in a universe that I generally feel is chaotic and indifferent. To seize on the specific THISness before it's gone.

(Don't tell anyone I used a word like "THISness." Oh, the shame of it...)

It's a very complicated thing. The process reflects different 'why's' at different times and so a definitive personal answer is elusive if not impossible.

We have objects that we photograph knowingfull well that we want to express and show more than the object itself. Sometimes the object is merely a reflection of how I feel or am seeing the world at the time so that dark and happy moments alike are able to expess themselves. So I guess photography provides a creative outlet to synthesize my inner world with the outer world I encounter. What results involves all the crafts of photography (a learning curve that always continues - and is rewarding in and of itself) as well as the 'art' of living well and thus 'seeing' well.

It's a reciprocal thing. Seeing makes me a better photographer and photographing helps me to see better. The why of photographing for me involves a rich means to become more fully human, i.e., to be aware of the individual and collective aspects of my existence such as being mindful, spiritual, sensual (not just sexual) and then to find a way to creatively express my responses to this existence. In giving my response via a photograph I can offer something back to those around me - an act of love if you will.