I attended a crafts class at my sister’s neighbor’s house the other night. As I sat there I found myself admiring all the old pictures she had displayed around her house. I was struck by the beauty in both the complexity and the simplicity in each of them. The simplicity came in the form of the backgrounds and the photography itself. The backgrounds were typically simple. It was usually just a plain wall or curtain. The photography was indicative of the era, just a straight on simple shot. The complexity came from the family itself. The faces of the family, and the looks in their eye made you want to know more about them. Not that there is anything wrong with photography today. I appreciate so much of the beauty that I see captured on film. But, I can’t help but wonder what has been lost in the name of progress. With the different lenses, lighting, slr or digital cameras and Photoshop, how much of what we are seeing is true to the original picture?
1 comment:
I am quite surprised Dan didn't chime in on this subject.
There is a great deal to be said in favor of simplicity.
Photography is interesting because it is both a craft and an art. The craft is the ability to take technically correct photos. Good lighting, framing, exposure, focus etc. The art is the ability to convey emotion. If I see a scene that elicits a certain emotional response in myself, the ability to convey that same emotion through a photo is art.
Art can be created with any old camera. Especially if one loves their subject. Good craftwork gets easier the more advanced your equipment is.
As for the 'truth' of the original picture, that is a very subjective question. My wife insists that the 'truth' of the picture is exactly as it is captured, unedited, by the camera. I say the 'truth' is to adjust the photo to look as close as possible to the original scene as I remember it.
The 'truth' of craft photography is generally, there are exceptions, to reproduce, as closely as possible, the original scene. The 'truth' of artistic photography, on the other hand, can be anything that conveys the intended emotion.
It just occurred to me to point out that, while digital photography has advanced to an incredibly technical state, by far the most prolific camera is the cameraphone. The cell phone camera is the digital equivalent of the most simplistic analog camera you can find.
Final thought regarding advances in
photography. When the compact disc became widespread in the eighties it was accepted that vinyl recordings were dead. Over time, however, vinyl made a comeback. It will never replace digital music but it will likely never die either. The reasons are much the same as your musings in this post. They are also the reasons I would expect film to continue it's existence.
Finished rambling now.
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