Re: What's the point? - and what to do about it.
Oh Yes - I have thoughts!
Great post Marc, I'm sorry to be so late to the party, but I've been on holiday, and although I've followed the thread, I didn't feel that I could easily reply on my iphone!
What's the Point
This is something I've been very much considering (What's the Point) in the last couple of years, for two principle reasons:
Point 1.
2 or 3 years ago I got to the point where I felt I could go full time professional, I was getting a reasonable amount of well paid work without really trying that hard, and the crunch point arrived.
I decided not to for several reasons, but principally it was because I had a client base in my existing business who would not be happy, and because I wasn't convinced that my commercial photographic skills would produce better work than my software systems skills (and we are all struggling for excellence aren't we).
Point 2.
My father died 18 months ago - he was an excellent and prolific 'gentleman photographer' - there was a lot of candid portraits of artists which have gone to the Tate in Cornwall, and other archives - great.
In addition there were boxes and boxes of slides, albums full of photographs, a wealth of material, much of it wonderful, mostly reasonably well catalogued and properly stored. . . .
After much discussions, my sisters and I threw it all away.
We realised that it would be transferred from one cupboard to another, until at some time in the future someone else would make the same decision.
Types of non commercial picture
So, after my preamble, let me get to my point. Leaving out commercial photography (which, for my point we could describe as pictures taken for someone else's purpose) I think there are 3 reasons people take pictures:
1. The Process
i.e. pictures taken for the sake of taking them - this might be comparison of one camera to another, experimentation, or just to play with our new toys. This site is full of such shots, it's a perfectly valid reason to own a camera, and it makes a fine (if expensive) hobby.
2. Recollection
Pictures taken to remember an event, a person, a scene or holiday. Nothing else needs to be said - although if they also communicate then my points below are probably relevant.
3. Communication.
Pictures taken to communicate to others.
Of course, pictures can encompass all three of the above, but it seems to me that your sample shot is about Communication, and this is where the 'What's the Point' problem lies.
The Problem
Picasso had a saying that haunts me ... "A picture kept in the closet, might as well be kept in the head."
This also haunts me . . . . .
The first part of the problem is that if you take 5,000 shots a month, or even 5000 shots a year, nobody but you is going to look at any of them (not even you probably). Which is why the photographs my father took are largely languishing underground.
The second part of the problem is that you have to make them available for people to see. Of course, the internet makes this immensely easier (I was absolutely gobsmacked when my son pointed how many page hits my website had last year)
The third part of the problem is how to encourage people to look for long enough for the image to communicate anything more than a pretty scene or composition.
As of late, (maybe I'm getting too old : -) ... but I have to have a purpose, a reason, it has to be FOR something or someone. I still take my camera on outings that have no utilitarian purpose, but then afterwards scratch my head as to what to do with yet more images in the sea of images I have already taken.
So, I'm going to take it one step further -
What to do about it.
Well, the beauty of digital is that you can take as many shots as you like, I think this is wonderful (sometimes I take 5,000 in a month). But . . . .
The answer is to be ruthless and disciplined, and to present a coherent approach.
Be Ruthless
Most painters would be overjoyed if they could produce 50 decent works a year . . . . and most viewers don't want to look at any more.
If they aren't really good, get rid of them. I try to have 3 distinct culls of my work, once after shooting, once about a month later, and again at the end of the year. Each time as many as 90% will go.
Don't keep duplicates - if you're anything like me, when you see something good, you'll take 20 shots 'to get it right'. Fine - but delete 19 of them, and if you can't tell which to delete, then it doesn't matter which of them you decide to keep!
There is no point in keeping gigabytes of 'nearly made its' - you'll never look at them again, and it's even less likely that anyone else will.
Be Disciplined
File / Archive / key word them rigorously. Make the very best of them you can in post processing. If you have 5,000 shots a month it's a huge and boring task. If you have 50 good shots it's a real pleasure!
Be Coherent
If you want others to look at your photographs for more than a momentary 'Oooh - you must have a good camera' then you need to be coherent. I don't mean obvious, I mean coherent. Photographs need to fall into understandable categories, be it landscape, black and white amphibians or street life in the Seychelles.
If you want to be 'known' - then you better have as few categories as possible. Think of a photographer you know and revere, 9 out of 10 they have one style, one direction.
Oops! I seem to have gone on a bit! :bugeyes:If you got this far, then I really hope it was worth it