Photography as Art

Now I'm not going to claim that the image that I used for this post is art -it is just a picture from a kitchen. But it is a composition of light and dark shapes with a curved line in it that *could* be somewhat interesting. But I used the image as an into to some quotes from a photographer named Ken Rockwell. Some people hate him and think he is full of, uhm, something... But I really like some quotes from his web site.

Here are some snippets that are especially good, to me, about photography:

"An image is all about the relationships between light and dark, up and down, warm and cool, and big and small. How do the shapes, gradations, scale, angles and everything work together? Are these creating depth, balance and impact, or just a confusing jumble of junk? These dynamics are what give an image its wow factor. A real image catches your attention and draws you in to explore, regardless of size.

This is why the best photographers tend to be those with an art background. Artists understand these basic and critical image elements and know how to use them to create outstanding images. Most photographers have no clue, and instead waste their creativity fretting about lens sharpness, raw vs. JPG or 16- to 14-bit redithering algorithm design instead of the mandatory basics of image design."

"The first thing to create are the fundamentals of values and tones, colors, shapes, balance and dynamics. If you get these right, your image will have impact. Adding the details later is the easy part. As a photographer, you need to be looking for these before you start looking for trivia like focus or depth of field."

Here is another great quote on how to be a better photographyer:

"Attend art school. Read every art book you can. Hang around artists, not photographers. Avoid the Internet, which is overpopulated by websites made by, as if you'd never guess, computer and technical weenies. Take art workshops. Pay attention to what turns you on in images you see and create, and do more of that. Keep an open mind."

And finally one more quote:

"A good photographer makes great images with a disposable camera because she knows its limits and how to use it. On the other hand, plenty of poor photographs are made every day using very expensive cameras by people lacking passion and vision, regardless of how much technical skill they have and how sharp their lenses are.

People write novels, not typewriters. So why do some people think buying a different camera or learning all about shutter speeds will help them make better images? People make photographs, not cameras. Your choice of camera has NOTHING to do with anything. NOTHING."

I am guessing that the people that do not like Ken Rockwell are the ones with expensive camera equipment and are enamored with their knowledge of all the technical details of the hardware.

That's it for today.