On 9/19/05, Shel Belinkoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > What I was asking about, and commenting upon, is that I find it strange > that ~you~ wouldn't know why you liked your own work. > > Every time you edit your photos you're critiquing your work. When you > shoot a roll of 36 and decide to print but one or two, you've made an > editorial decision, decided which is acceptable and which is not. I would > think that if you understood why you liked a photo, what made it work for > you, it might be helpful. > > I'm just trying to have a conversation with you frank, open a little > dialogue. Sounds like I've offended or annoyed you in some way. > > Shel
Well, to be quite honest with you, Shel, I did bristle a bit last night when I read your initial comment, and I admit that I was being petulant and maybe even a bit childish in my responses - for which I apologize. What bothered me wasn't the "wasted frame" thing, although I disagree, and I suppose I'd have simply preferred that you said you didn't like the photo - with or without reasons. What bothered me was (what I perceived as) your sarcasm as follows: "Print it big, mount it nicely, display it with good lighting, and will become something special for someone. Oh, yeah, ask a lot of money for it as well." All that being said, I actually know why I like it, I just feel rather uncomfortable talking about it, and besides, I really do think that it's more important viewers form their own opinions as to why they feel the way they do about a given piece. However, I like it due to the following (among other) reasons: Okay, it's blurry. It's not a motion blur like a car, scooter, bike or even a pedestrian going by. It's me, the photographer, moving past the scene that's causing the blur. When I'm walking through a crowded city, I don't make connections with most of those that I pass. I only see them peripherally. I walk by them without noticing them, and they don't notice me - as the fellow in the foreground of the photo seems to be unaware of my presence. So, to me, this is about the disconnect of living and moving about in a big city. The irony that among millions of people, we actually have fewer close relationships - we walk around with blinders on, oblivious to what's around us. It's as if we have sensory overload, and it all becomes a blur - just like the picture. Have you ever felt that way? I have. The reason I don't like talking like that, is that I hate sounding overblown, pretentious and all artsy about it - especially since it really is just a blurry photo. I didn't intend for it to come out that way, it just did, and I saw the neg, and I thought it looked pretty cool. I wouldn't say it was an accident, but I wouldn't say that I took the photo thinking it would look that way, either. It just is what it is. cheers, frnk -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
