Bob,
Your discussions strike a note with me. While I have never taken photos for
sale to anyone, I have found myself thinking, as Spring flowers appear, or
birds show up, or as airplanes are sighted, "can I improve on what I did
with similar subjects in past years?" I try different lenses, have gone
back to film in a rangefinder, try to recall Moose's comments in the past,
etc. My images end up in my LUG gallery, where they are either ignored, or
gather a few comments. Many of the comments, both positive and negative,
help me to improve my work as I see it, but I don't expect a "break out"
moment, when everything is wonderful. And I don't think that spending $15K
on new gear will make much difference. :~(
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Whitmire" <bwhitmire@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 2:27 PM
Subject: Re: [OM] (OM) OT ... Sacrilege? Sedition??
> On Apr 12, 2012, at 2:25 PM, Ken Norton wrote:
>
>>> Of course this is the classic definition of "hack."
>>
>>
>> Says the man with the gallery.
>
> Indeed, and so we come to the headwaters of Bob's personal struggle with
> photography. For years now I have endeavored to take images that would
> appeal to tourists in such a way as to cause them to reach for wallets and
> credit cards. I have been modestly successful at this, but have always
> considered myself something of a hack because I was doing it for money,
> not because I had something to say--other than "I can take really pretty
> pictures that people will pay for."
>
> This year I find it difficult to pick up the camera and hit the bricks,
> cliffs and beaches for more of the same. True, some of that can be laid at
> the feet of a couple of medical issues of my own, which were resolved
> successfully, and the brain-decoupling experience of standing at Ben's
> bedside for so long not knowing whether he was going to live or die. But
> regardless of the cause, the fact remains that I am seriously reluctant to
> sally forth down the road already traveled while not having determined
> whether there is another path, or whether this photography thing has run
> its course.
>
> I don't _think_ it has run its course. I think I'm still looking for a
> little something else, another direction. I hesitate to say that I'm
> looking for a more artistic approach because I think that would be
> hackhood once removed. Last night as I gnawed this particular bone while
> trying to go to sleep, I thought about that image I posted on Facebook a
> week or so ago, the rather dark image of Pemaquid River. I happen to like
> that image a lot, although it is in no way representational of the scene
> as presented through the viewfinder of my E-1. Rather, it is an
> interpretation of that scene--and a dramatic departure from reality (in
> some ways, every image is an interpretation, right?). But it did come up
> from some deeper spot that guided me as I worked without my being able to
> see exactly which hands were on the controls, or even where the controls
> were.
>
> So did I, as sleep began to take me, stumble onto something? Is there a
> place for interpretation here that is not aimed specifically at separating
> tourists from their money, but rather making work accessible through the
> gallery so that they can run screaming or purchase as their hearts and
> heads dictate? I really don't know. All I know is that I'm not interested
> in taking more pictures of lobster boats motoring our of New Harbor, or of
> Pemaquid Point Light, at least not in the customary ways.
>
> This is getting muddier and muddier, so I think I'll stop myself short of
> embarrassment. Suffice it to say that the train has run off the track and
> is crashing through the bushes looking for that other track. The secret
> being, of course, that one does not find that other track while actively
> involved in looking for it. One finds the track after one _stops_ looking
> for it and just accepts what the muses--or fates--offer up from the
> universal pool.
>
> I have a headache.
>
> --Bob
>
>
>
>
> --
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>
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