On 2011-03-31 11:39 , Collin Brendemuehl wrote:
The question is: How do we better our photography and get past cliche images?
Can we take it more seriously without falling into either the trap of elitism
or the trap of demanding a certain level of commitment from others? (That's
the motivation behind my recent technical criticisms. We can do better without
burning ourselves out.)
[answering before i look at the other responses]
it's the same as with any art form (for those of us who pursue
photography as art) -- there is no one way, but it's important to be
true to oneself, to practice, and to search for what you have to say;
many people (including me) also see their art as a form of play
personally, i take a lot of flower shots, mainly because i'm putting
them in a database of my gardens; on the face of it this is separate
from my "artistic" pursuits, but while taking flower shots i practice
seeing, and i practice technique; i also think there is always more to
see in any subject, so sometimes i just work my yard, looking for new
things and new ways to see
Sorry about the rant, but cliche images bother me deeply.
cliches are part of the process -- for one thing there are practice
subjects that are very cliche, but which can help develop technique and
vision; the other aspect is that it takes work to recognize cliche, and
there is a risk of seeing everything as cliche, so i personally feel
there's a bit of "dancing" to do with cliches -- embrace them, twirl
them around, make fun of them, let them humble you, but also hone your
awareness of when the dance is over
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